The Unseen
by Keavy F
Summary: Bella is a human with a special ability. She moves to Forks where she meets the Cullens and she's immediately drawn to Alice. Drama and danger quickly ensue after Bella's arrival. Will this jeopardise the growing relationship between Bella and Alice?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone. This is my second attempt at writing a Twilight fic. For the people who are reading my first one: I am not abandoning it. I just had the idea for this fic stuck in my head for a while now, so I felt like I needed to get started on it. **

**I hope you enjoy the first chapter and please REVIEW!**

_The city of Forks welcomes you._

The road sign signalling my arrival in the City of Forks, Washington, greets me at the city limits. After my three hour and 15 minute drive I have finally arrived at my destination. The City of Forks, with it's small population of about 3300 people, is the town I will call home from now on. After years of travelling around the world with my family, I'm happy that I'm settling down on my own now. And this town is the perfect place for it. It's remote, it's quiet, it's small, it's everything I want it to be.

From North Forks Ave I drive onto Bogachiel Way and past the Forks Community Hospital. After a few more minutes of driving I finally arrive at 775 K Street, my new home. I pull up in the driveway and as I get out of my truck, I'm hit by the sweet scent of the forest that surrounds Forks. I walk up to the front door of my new house and use my key to open the door. As soon as I step inside, this homey feeling immediately surrounds me. The interior designer my mom hired did an awesome job on this.

I plop down on the large leather couch in the living room and rest my head on it's back, just enjoying the calm and the quiet that surround me. I'd better savour those now, seeing as I will start my first term at Forks High in two days. And something in my gut is telling me that it will be the exact opposite of calm and quiet.

* * *

Monday morning has come after two days of settling into my new home and exploring the town. There are a few things I have learned about Forks until now. First, the sun doesn't shine here. Second, the people who live here are really nice and helpful. When I was unloading the boxes from my truck, a car stopped in front of my house and this really tan guy got out of it. He walked up to me and introduced himself as Jacob Black, Jake for his friends, and he offered me his help carrying the boxes inside. He seemed like a nice guy and I accepted his help, and in the process I made my first friend in Forks. Since I'm new here and all, he even invited me to come visit him over at the reservation some time.

I also met some more people in downtown Forks yesterday. They were all very interested in who I am, I guess they don't get a lot of strangers here. I just hope that the kids at school won't make that much of a fuss about me and that I will blend in easily.

I park my truck in the practically empty parking lot in front of the school. I came a bit early for my first day, hoping to get sorted out before the rest of the students arrive. I quickly find my way to the registration office where I get handed my schedule, a map of the school and a slip of paper that my teachers need to sign.

First up on my schedule is English Literature, so I take the map and start finding where I'm supposed to go. It doesn't take me that long to find the classroom, so I go exploring the school grounds a bit. As I step outside again, I see that the parking lot has filled up with cars already. And I'm glad to see that nearly all are looking as shabby as my old red Chevy, except for a silver Volvo that's parked a few spots away from it. Must be the car of the only rich kid that lives in Forks.

As I turn around, an Asian guy practically attacks me, scaring the shit out of me.

"Hi! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare to you. I just wanted to welcome you to Forks. My name is Eric Yorkie and you must be Isabella Swan. Pleasure to meet you." He rambles energetically.

"Uhm hey. Nice to meet you too, but please don't call me Isabella, I prefer Bella." I smile at him.

"Ah Bella, Italian for beautiful. I can see why you would prefer that, it suits you." He winks at me.

I chuckle at his words. He is like the millionth guy who thinks that line will get him somewhere, but that won't happen. He looks like a nice guy though, better let him down easy.

"Well, thanks for the compliment, but you're not the first guy ever who tries to come on to me with that line." The happy look on his face changes into an embarrassed one. "Nonetheless, you just said I'm beautiful, so I definitely like you Eric." At this he smiles again.

"Now that I have embarrassed myself enough, can I take a look at your schedule? Maybe we have some classes together."

"Sure." I hand my schedule to him and he quickly skims through it, before handing it back to me.

"We have first, third and fifth period together." He says in a pleased tone.

"Cool." I glance at my watch and see that first period will start in about five minutes. "We should head towards English Literature then, I don't want to be late on my first day."

As we enter the classroom, a few students are already in their seats and the teacher is busy writing something down on the blackboard. I walk up to him and get his attention by coughing a bit. He turns around and when he sees me, he looks confused at first, but then a look of realisation strikes his features.

"Ah, you must be the new student I was informed about. Isabella Swan I believe?"

"Yes sir, that's me. But I prefer Bella, if you don't mind. The lady at the registration office told me to give you this." I give him the slip of paper he is supposed to sign.

"I'll get this back to you after class miss Swan. Now, lets see if we have a seat left for you. In this class all assignments are done in pairs, so everyone is already paired up, except for miss Cullen, you can sit next to her." He looks across the classroom and says "Miss Cullen, raise your hand please."

A movement in the right back corner of the room catches my eye and I focus my attention in that direction. My eyes land on the most perfect creature I have ever seen. There in the back of the class sits a girl with short black hair, spiked into every direction. She has a pale complexion that make her ruby red lips and her golden topaz eyes stand out magnificently. She is wearing expensive looking clothes that hug the curves of her small frame perfectly. As I make another quick survey of the girl again, something in my mind begins to add up. I listen for a heartbeat and I'm not surprised to find none. The girl is definitely not human. My first guess would be that she's a vampire, but the colour of her eyes contradict that theory.

Still lost in my thoughts about what the girl is, I make my way over to her. I plop down in the seat next to her and she turns to me with this radiant smile plastered on her face. She scoots closer in her seat and offers me her hand.

"Hi! I'm Alice Cullen." She says enthusiastically.

I take her hand and the expected happens. A tingle crawls along my hand and arm, onto my spine and lastly to my head. And in the course of a second I can see all of Alice's life playing out in my mind. And I see some interesting things. First of all, she is a vampire, just like I suspected. But she isn't a regular vampire, she feeds on animals which explains her eye colour. Second, she is part of a large coven that lives out in the forest surrounding Forks. And third, she possesses an ability that I have now made my own.

"Bella Swan. Nice to meet you."

The school bell rings, signalling the start of the class, so we both focus our attention on the teacher. He explains our first assignment of the term to us, after which he tells us to talk it through with our partner. I turn towards Alice again and see that she is already looking at me.

"So Bella, tell me something about yourself."

"Aren't we supposed to start on the assignment?"

She giggles at that. "We still have a few weeks left to hand it in silly, and besides, it's an easy assignment."

"OK then, what do you want to know about me?"

"Everything." Again she giggles. "But we'll start easy, where are you originally from?"

That is actually one of the few questions about myself that I don't have to lie about. "I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but I only lived there for about two years."

"How come?"

Another one I can answer truthfully. "My family has to move a lot because of my dad's profession."

"That's a bummer, always moving and having to make new friends every time." Yes, you would know. You have been travelling around the world for like eighty years or something. "What is your dad's profession then?"

"He's a Colonel in the U.S. Army." That's not a complete lie. "He gets a new posting every two years, so that requires us to move so much. But I have gotten used to it after all these years."

Her features sadden a bit. "Does that mean that you will have to move again in two years?"

"Actually, no. Now that I'm eighteen, my mom and dad are letting me try out living on my own for a while. And when we're both happy with how that's going, then I can live on my own." She smiles at this. "But if it isn't working out, then I will have to move again in about six months. That's when my dad will get his new posting."

"Then I will just have to make sure that you enjoy living here in Forks, because I have the feeling that we will become really great friends. I just know it." She casts another radiant smile my way.

"If we're going to be such great friends, as you just stated, then it's only fair that you tell me something about yourself too." I already know everything about her, but she doesn't know that I do. And I don't want to raise any feelings of suspicions.

"I have lived here in Forks for about two years now together with my adoptive family. Carlisle, Dr. Cullen, and his wife Esme adopted me and my four siblings about twelve years ago, because they couldn't have any kids of their own. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Edward and me have been living with them ever since. We moved around a lot too, because my dad always likes to take on a new job every few years or so. But I don't mind that much, because I have my siblings."

That little story is full of lies, but then again, it's not like she will just tell anyone that she is a vampire and lives with a coven of them. And I'm not exactly in the position to accuse other people of lying, seeing as I have to do so as well most of the time.

But with her this lying business is bugging me more then it has ever bugged me with anybody else. It just doesn't feel right to be doing it. I have to figure out a way to get around that.

"Dr. Cullen and his wife must be two amazing people to adopt so many kids."

"Yes they are. I love them like I would have loved my own parents I think." I can see that she means it. It's weird for me to hear a vampire speak like this about others of it's kind. All vampires I have encountered until now were either loners, or were together with others of their kind out of convenience. But the Cullen family is different.

"I really want to continue playing twenty questions with you right now, but first period will end in a few minutes. What classes do you have next?"

I take a look at my schedule and see that I have Chemistry next and after that History. "I have Chemistry first and third period I have History."

"Second period I have Art, but third period I have History as well. Which means I can continue interrogating you then if Mr. Wright gives me the chance to."

I chuckle at her. "I am already looking forward to that."

The school bell rings and everyone gets up and out of their seats. As we reach the corridor where Alice and I have to split ways, she turns to me and plants a quick kiss on my cheek. Then she walks backwards towards her classroom and waves at me.

I am too shocked by the kiss she just gave me and what it makes me feel, to form any kind of reply to her wave. When I finally come out of my stupor, she has already disappeared into her classroom.

I make my way towards my own class, where I introduce myself to Ms. Elliott, my Chemistry teacher. She tells me that in her class everyone has an assigned lab partner. And as I make my way towards the only empty seat that's left in the room, I throw a glance at my lab partner and find myself looking at another set op topaz coloured eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews so far. All have been positive, so that must mean that I'm doing something right. Some of you have asked some questions about what Bella is and what else she can do. All I can say to that is: keep reading my story and you will find out.**

**Enjoy the second chapter and please REVIEW!**

I'm looking into the topaz coloured eyes of yet another vampire. I dig into Alice's memories real quick and immediately recognise the huge bulk of a guy that I'm looking at as Emmett. From what I know from Alice's memories, he's the goofball of the family. And although he presents himself as this big tough guy, he's more of a big teddy bear. It should be fun to have him as my lab partner.

I sit down in my seat and turn to Emmett to introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Bella Swan."

A huge smile breaks out onto his face. "I'm Emmett, Emmett Cullen. How are you enjoying America, must be really different from Italy weather-wise."

I snigger. "Uhm, I'm from Atlanta, Georgia. As in the United States."

He looks really confused at me for a moment. "But your name's Bella. That's Italian right?"

Again I snigger. "Yes, it's an Italian name. But my parents gave it to me because they liked it, not because I was born in Italy. I do like mushroom ravioli though."

"OK, that's cool too."

We don't get the chance to continue our conversation, because Ms. Elliott decides to start up the lesson then. She begins explaining some kind of experiment to us. I have never been particularly interested in Chemistry, so I soon block out her voice.

I just sit and twiddle my thumbs for a minute, but I soon get bored doing that. I look at Emmett and see that he isn't really paying attention to what the teacher is talking about either. I quietly tear a piece of paper out of my notebook and write a message to Emmett.

'_So, you're Alice's brother right?'_

I nudge him in the side, getting his attention before sliding the paper over to him. He reads my message and writes a response.

'_Yes I am. I take it you have met Shorty then?'_

Shorty? I can't imagine she likes that nickname. But I can see how it would fit her, she's what? Like 4'10'' or something?

'_Yeah, we had English Literature together first period, next we have History. She was really nice to me, even though I am a total stranger. But all of the Cullens I have met until now are nice like that :)'_

He smiles at my message and eagerly writes a reply.

'_Yeah, that's Alice for you. I take it you haven't met Rosalie yet, let's see if you still think we're all nice then.'_

Rosalie is the blond one from Alice's memories. The girl that looks like she has just walked off a runway or something. And she has an attitude to spare.

'_Alice mentioned her very briefly, but she didn't go into details. Why will I think she isn't nice?'_

I slip the paper to him again and he hesitates a bit before writing his response. He must be thinking what the politest way would be to describe his girlfriend to me, without scaring me off and without her getting pissed at him. Finally he hands the paper back to me.

'_Rosalie has a bit of a 'unique' personality you could say. Either you're in her good graces, or you're not. And when you're not, well then you'd better stay the hell away from her.'_

I smile at his description of her.

'_I certainly can't wait to meet her ;)'_

He seems like he's thinking something over before he scribbles something down on the paper again.

'_You don't have to wait long. Sit with us at lunch? I'm sure Alice and the guys wouldn't mind. Rosalie we'll just deal with then.'_

Hmm, sit with the group of vampires for lunch, or sit with the normal human kids? I think I'm going to sit with the group of vampires. That way I can get to know them a bit better and see what to make of them. And sitting with them at lunch means more time with Alice. And I'm definitely up for that.

'_Okay, if you're sure they wouldn't mind.'_

After that the teacher drones on for about twenty more minutes and I mindlessly doodle a bit in my notebook. Finally the school bell rings, signalling the end of this mind numbing class. I make my way to the door and Emmett trails after me.

"I guess I'll see you at lunch then. Better be prepared." He grins at me and walks off to his next class.

I proceed to my third period History Class and suddenly out of nowhere, someone grasps my hand. I look to my side and see that Alice is striding along besides me.

"Hey, haven't seen you in a while. Did you miss me?" She giggles.

"Yeah, how long has it been? Like 45 minutes? How I have survived without you for that amount of time amazes me." I state in a dramatic voice. "I met your brother though, the big one, Emmett. He may be even nicer than you are." She aims this incredibly cute pout at me and I can't help but laugh at her antics.

"You think Emmy-bear is nicer than me?" She says in this sad tone, which together with the word 'Emmy-bear' makes me crack up again.

We arrive at our History class and I go introduce myself to yet another teacher. Mr. Wright welcomes me to his class and tells me that I can sit anywhere I like.

As I turn around I can see Eric waving me over to the seat next to him. I point towards Alice who is enthusiastically patting the seat next to her and mouth a 'Sorry!' at Eric. He seems disappointed but throws a smile at me nonetheless. Then he goes back to talking with the brown haired girl sitting in front of him.

I make my way over to Alice and plop down in my seat. I look at her and pick up our conversation where we left it.

"So, Emmy-bear?" This time I manage to suppress my laughter.

"Yes, because he is as big as a bear and when it comes down to it, he is just a big mush ball. So he is my Emmy-bear." She giggles.

"It's only fair that he calls you Shorty then. That isn't far from the truth either." I smirk at her.

"Excuse me! Is that some stab at my height? Why I have never!" She says in a mock offended tone.

Mr. Wright soon interrupts our playful banter with the start of his lesson. History has always been one of my best subjects and it's an interest of mine. So I'm actually delighted to hear that we have to write a paper on the American Civil War this semester. What's even better is that we have to write it in pairs and that we can form the pairs ourselves.

I whisper over to Alice "Do you want to work with me on this assignment?"

"Of course I do!" She throws her trademark radiant smile at me.

Mr. Wright gives us a few more pointers for our paper and then he leaves us to our own devices. I enthusiastically take my book in front of me and begin highlighting all the important things in the introduction chapter to the Civil War. When I have finished highlighting almost half of the page I turn to Alice.

"So, where do you want to start?"

"Well, I was going to ask you to tell me something more about your parents, but I'm guessing you're talking about the paper. Seeing as you have been busy highlighting an entire chapter."

I blush at her comment. "Sorry. I guess I got a bit over-excited there. It's just that this is my favourite subject, so I like doing assignments for it. I guess that would qualify me as a geek, actually wanting to do my homework."

Alice puts her hand on my cheek. "You're cute when you blush." That only makes me blush harder. "And no, you're not a geek. It just shows that you are passionate about something. I'm like that when it comes to Art, so you have no reason to be embarrassed." She takes her hand of my cheek and I instantly miss her touch. "But I was kinda hoping that I could ask you some more questions about yourself." And she uses her pout again.

I already know that I can't resist her pout and I think that she knows it too. So I close my book and put my highlighter away.

"OK, shoot."

"What does your mom do? You know, as a job?"

"She used to be an elementary school teacher, before my dad god his high-ranking position as Colonel. But because we have to move so much, she had to give that up." I remember how she always loved to talk about her kids from school, she truly liked her job. But she gave it up for dad's career and for me, and she hasn't ever regretted it. "Now she's a housewife most of the time and she has a part-time job at the on-base kindergarten." Which she also loves.

"Sounds nice. And your dad? What exactly does he do in the army?"

This was the one question that I hoped she wouldn't ask me, because I have no choice but to lie now. "He's involved in developing new battle tactics and strategies. He can't really talk about it to us, because most of what he deals with is classified. As almost everything in the army is." I handled that one nicely.

"Isn't that weird for you and your mom, that he has to keep secrets from you about his work?" She seems genuinely curious about this. Damn I wish I could tell her the truth. I know exactly what my dad does in the army, how could I not, I'm involved in it as well.

"It was kinda hard in the beginning. But after living on an army base for a while, you get used to all the secrecy and just accept it as the norm. It's not like we have some major trust issues going on at home because of it you know. He just can't talk to us about the army stuff, all other stuff that happens in his life he does share with us."

Mr. Wright interrupts our conversation again, telling us we can pack our thing up and go. This time I'm grateful for the interruption, because now I don't have to go keep on lying to Alice about my dad. And me.

"Finally, lunch time has arrived." I exclaim happily, trying to steer the conversation towards another topic. As if on cue, my stomach rumbles loudly.

Alice laughs at the sound and pats my stomach. "I think you have neglected to feed someone for too long."

We make our way towards the cafeteria where I get myself some sandwiches and an apple. Alice loads some fruit onto her tray, which I know she won't eat. I guess she just has to keep up appearances towards the other students. It would look odd if she never got anything to eat at all. I make a quick survey of the cafeteria and see Emmett already sitting at a table. Next to him sits Rosalie. Both have two trays of food standing on the table before them. Both are untouched.

Emmett notices me looking at him and Rosalie and motions me over to them. Rose thumps him in the back of his head and glares at him. As Alice and I approach their table however, she turns her glare onto me.

As we sit down, Rose does not surprise me by immediately trying to get some kind of rise out of me. She gives me a curt nod. "I'm Rosalie. You must be Bella. The Italian girl Emmett was blabbering about all through third period." The tone in which she says it isn't friendly, but I wouldn't call it hostile either.

"Yeah that's me, kind of. I'm not Italian and I don't know if he has been blabbering about me all through third period, but I definitely am Bella." I just meet her head on, mustering up the most friendly tone I can manage. Judging by the twinkle in her eye she likes the way I just back talked to her.

We get involved into a little staring contest, while Alice and Emmett cautiously look at us. After about a minute of our little staring match, a small smile begins to form at the corners of Rosalie's mouth.

"For some reason unknown to me I think I might like you." Alice and Emmett both look shocked at her words. I just smirk and answer her.

"Same here."

After that I dig into my lunch, while Emmett and Rosalie resume talking to each other. Alice pushes around the food on her tray a bit, but I choose not to comment on her lack of eating. Just as I'm about to start on my second sandwich, two pairs of shoes appear in my peripheral vision.

"Well hello there. I don't believe we have met?" Someone says in a Southern accent.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is, Chapter 3. I have only one request: Please REVIEW.**

I find myself looking at two boys. One with blond hair and one with bronze hair that looks like it's defying all laws of gravity. Both of them have the same pale skin and topaz coloured eyes that Alice, Emmett and Rosalie have, so they must be Jasper and Edward.

The empath and the mind-reader.

I stand up and respond to Jasper's question. "No, we haven't. I'm Bella. And you must be either Jasper or Edward." I put my hand out and I'm really hoping that he takes it. He hesitates for a moment but then shakes my hand. Just like with Alice, I see all of his life flashing through my mind in the course of a second. And I have gained my second ability today.

"I'm Jasper, he's Edward." He says while nodding in Edward's direction. Edward is looking at me, a look of concentration clearly visible on his face. Which soon gets replaced by confusion. No doubt by the fact that I'm probably the only person in this room who's mind he can't read.

I put my hand out to him too, knowing that I'm taking a bit of a risk by doing so. The second his skin touches mine I read him like a book.

As I make his ability mine, I feel a shooting pain in my head and my limbs start to feel heavy. It feels like my energy is seeping from me. Standing is becoming an issue and I feel myself slumping forwards. But before I can hit the ground, someone catches me. I tilt my head up to find myself looking at Alice's face. Then everything around me fades to black.

* * *

Ungh, my head! I feel like someone just smacked me with a hammer or something. God! Talk about a headache. My head is throbbing like crazy. What the hell happened? I open my eyes and squint at the lights above me. I tilt my head up and take a look around me and immediately recognise the room I'm in a hospital room. But how did I end up here?

As I'm about to sit up, I hear Alice's voice just outside the room.

"Is she going to be OK?"

"She's going to be fine. I pulled up her record and it says that she has Hypoglycemia. Which means that the level of sugar in her blood is too low at times, which causes her to faint sometimes."

Hypoglocymia? I fainted?

Memories of what happened come flooding back to me. I was at school and I had just met Jasper, the empath. Then I shook hands with Alice's other brother, Edward. Who just happens to be a mind-reader so I gained his ability. The third one of the day next to Alice's clairvoyance and Jasper's empathy… Which caused my mind and body to wear themselves out.

God I'm so stupid sometimes! I knew I should have waited at least a day before gaining Edward's ability too. They warned me about this, but I just had to NOT listen once again.

Before I can mentally kick myself in the butt some more, Alice walks in together with a blond haired man who looks to be in his mid-thirties. One look at his topaz coloured eyes tells me that he is yet another vampire. Presumably Dr. Cullen, Alice's adoptive father.

Alice walks towards me with a worried expression on her face. She sits on the side of my bed and takes one of my hands into hers.

"Are you alright?" She asks me while stroking the back of my hand with her thumb, which makes it very difficult for me to focus on the question she just asked me.

"Uhm.. I think I'm fine." I stutter out. "Just a bit of a headache."

Dr. Cullen steps forward. "That's to be expected. You're sugar level is a bit low at the moment due to the Hypoglocymia. Oh, my name is Dr. Cullen, I treated you when they brought you in." As an afterthought he adds, "I'm also Alice's father."

He puts his hand out for me to shake and I know it's safe for me to do so. "Nice to meet you Dr. Cullen. Alice has told me a little bit about you." I smile at Alice who is still absentmindedly stroking my hand. "I have a question for you though. Why am I at the hospital? I mean, I only fainted."

Dr. Cullen smiles at my question. "That's because my daughter", he nods towards Alice, "decided to rush you over here."

I look at Alice again and see that she is smiling sheepishly. Would she have been human, I'm sure her face would have been a lovely shade of crimson right now. She looks so damn cute right now.

"I was worried about you, OK!" She exclaims. "I mean, one minute you're fine and the next you're collapsing. I'm just glad I got to you in time, so you didn't hit your head on the floor or something." I can see she is upset about what had happened.

I squeeze her hand to relax her a bit. "I'm fine Alice, really. And the fainting is not uncommon for me, it has happened before. I'm just glad that you were there to catch me. I could have had a lot more than just a headache right now if you hadn't caught me." I throw my arms around her neck in a soft hug. "Thank you Alice."

I finally feel her body relax as she leans into my hug. After a moment's hesitation I feel her arms encircling my waist and she's hugging me back. Then Dr. Cullen clears his throat. I disentangle myself from Alice and turn to face him.

"Well Bella, there really is no reason to keep you here, so you're free to go. I am sure Alice will give you a ride home. Won't you Alice?"

Alice immediately nods in the affirmative. "Of course I will dad." Dr. Cullen hands her a set of keys. "I'll see you at home then."

Alice helps me off the bed and we make our way out of the hospital room while I throw a goodbye to Dr. Cullen over my shoulder. Alice leads me out of the hospital and into the parking lot. She stops in front of a black Mercedes and opens the passenger side door for me. She makes this grand gesture with her arm and makes a little bow.

"Milady, your carriage awaits." She says in a posh British accent.

I chuckle at her antics and respond to her bow with a curtsey before I get in the car. She closes my door and walks to the other side of the car where she proceeds to get in and start the engine. She turns her head towards me and throws a cute little grin my way.

She pulls out of the parking lot and we spend a few moments in silence, which gives me the chance to reflect on everything that happened today.

I got to meet six of the seven resident vampires of Forks, three of which have special abilities. Which I have now too, because of my own 'ability'. However I did almost get exposed because I was too impatient to wait a day or so before gaining the mind-reading ability. But that's just me, tell me not to do something and I will do it. Just for the hell of it. That always pisses my dad off a bit, he being an army guy and living by a book of rules and regulations. But I can safely say that I have learned my lesson after what happened today. I will take it easy for a few days before I'm going to test out my new abilities.

It's probably best to call dad tonight and tell him about what happened and about the abilities I gained. I'll probably have to return to the base this weekend so they can do some testing. Great, I hate being used as a guinea pig. The only positive thing about those tests is that I can freely use my powers. And it will be nice to spend some time with mom this weekend as well.

Alice's voice pulls me out of my musings. "So, where am I driving to?"

"To school? To get my car?" I make a 'duh' gesture with my eyebrows.

"Actually, I thought I would just drive you home instead of making a detour to the school." She replies while keeping her eyes on the road.

"Then how will I get to school tomorrow?"

"I will come and pick you up of course, silly." She giggles. "I'll just tell my siblings that I'll be riding my own car to school tomorrow." As an afterthought she adds, "I mean, if that's alright with you. I can drop you off at school now if you want me to."

Hmm, ride alone to school tomorrow in my old red Chevy or get a ride from Alice? That's a definite no-brainer.

"That's definitely alright with me!" Damn, eager much Bella? I look out the window because I'm fairly sure that I'm blushing. Damn, if only I could use my powers now. "I mean uhm, that's fine if you're sure it's no problem for you."

"I wouldn't be proposing it if it was. Now, where are we headed?"

I give Alice the directions to my house and we quickly arrive there, seeing as it isn't that far away from the hospital. A look of realisation and delight appears on her face.

"I knew your address sounded familiar to me!" She exclaims. "My mother worked on this house just a few weeks ago, she designed the interior."

"You can tell her she did a terrific job then. I absolutely love it!" Which is the truth. The inside of the house is very modern but cosy at the same time. I immediately felt at home the first time I saw it just a few days ago.

"Could I maybe take a look inside? I only saw some sketches and pictures of the intended design, but I never got to see the result." She asks me in an excited voice.

I mentally walk through every room trying to remember if I have put away everything army related or top-secret.

My lack of answering her must have given her the impression that I don't want her to come in, because the next thing she says is, "If you don't want me to come in that's fine too. I mean, we have only met today and I know people don't usually let strangers into their homes." She looks really sad and it just about breaks my heart to see her looking this way.

"No no, of course I want you to come in! You're not a stranger, you're my friend. I was just trying to remember if I left the place a mess when I left for school this morning." I see that my words have the intended affect of cheering her up again. She quickly gets out of the car and runs to the passenger side, although at human speed. She opens the car door for me, once again making a little chivalrous bow and extending her hand to me. I take it of course and let her help me out of the car.

"You really are quite the gentleman." I tell her amused.

"Well thank you Milady." She grins at me and loops her arm through mine. We walk towards the front door arm in arm and I fish in my pockets for my house key. I open the front door and Alice nearly drags me into the little hall.

"I'm guessing you want the whole tour, right?" She nods enthusiastically at me. "OK, we'll start in the living room then." I proceed to show her the rest of the ground floor and Alice comments on some things. I stop for a glass of water in the kitchen and politely offer one to Alice as well. Of course she gracefully declines, her reason being 'that she already had a drink at the hospital while I was out, so she wasn't thirsty now'. Even if she would have been thirsty, I'm pretty sure that a glass of water wouldn't have fixed it in the slightest.

I deposit my empty glass in the sink and lead Alice up to the first floor. I show her the bathroom first and after that the guest room. As we reach the door to my own bedroom, I suddenly grow kinda nervous. Although I don't know why, I'm just showing her the room for Christ's sake.

I swing open the door and Alice immediately steps into the room. She makes a little twirl, taking all of the room in. Then she plops down on my bed and looks me straight in the eye.

"I absolutely love your room!" She tells me enthusiastically. "We could have really great slumber parties here. Especially with this big bed of yours." She says while patting the bed.

Hmm, slumber parties with Alice. That would definitely be a plan I like. Before my mind gets the chance to wander off and think about what we could do during those slumber parties, my stomach decides to make its presence known again. I glance at my watch and see that it's already half past 5 in the afternoon.

"I'm going downstairs to prepare dinner." I tell Alice.

"I guess I'll be going home then."

"You don't have to go home yet. You can stay over for dinner if you want to." Let's see how she responds to that.

"Uhm, it's a nice offer, but I promised mom that I'd eat at home tonight." She is avoiding looking me in the eyes.

"Are you sure? I'm making lasagna, it's absolutely delicious, even if I say so myself."

"I'm sure. My family is on a special diet, so I have to eat at home anyway." Again she isn't looking directly at me when she tells me this. 'Special diet', well it isn't exactly a lie. For a vampire she is on a special diet, only drinking animal blood.

"OK, but you're definitely missing out here." I throw a smile her way and start heading towards the stairs. I'm about to descend them, but Alice saying my name stops me.

"Bella? What's this room?" She is standing in front of the door of the only room in the house I haven't shown her. I walk back to her and swing the door open, revealing what's inside.

She looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "You have a construction site inside your house?"

I chuckle at her and look past her into the room. All the walls are bare, a plastic sheet is covering the floor, the window is taped shut, a ladder is standing against he far wall and a few toolkits are standing in a corner.

"I haven't really figured out yet what to do with this room. It was supposed be another bedroom, but since I already have two that didn't make any sense. So I told the designer, your mom, to just leave it like this until I know what I want to do with it." And honestly, I still have no idea what to do with it. But Alice does.

"I would turn it into my own little fashion studio!" She tells me excitedly.

A fashion studio? Hell no, if there is anything that I absolutely hate it is fashion. One of the best things about living on the base was that I could throw on the same kind of outfit every day of the week. I didn't have to worry about fashion there. But I should've known Alice would be into it, seeing as she is dressed in designer clothes and has the looks of a model.

Now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow at Alice. "Uhm, I don't think so. Definitely not, no."

"I know you would never turn it into a fashion studio. You clearly have no sense of fashion at all." She says while looking me over.

I actually feel kinda hurt by that. "Hey! I like my look just fine you know."

She laughs at me. "Calm down silly. It was just a joke. But I will take you shopping in the near future."

I groan at that. "Fine. Now, didn't you have to be home for dinner?"

I descend the stairs and Alice follows me. At the door we pause and face each other. Alice is the one who speaks first. "So, I'll be picking you up tomorrow morning. Is half an hour before first period alright with you?" I nod in affirmation. "Now there is just one thing left to do."

She steps closer to me and enters my personal space. I back up a bit until I feel the back of my legs connecting with the little hall table. Alice is still advancing and I'm too shocked by her sudden move to react, or to breathe for that matter. Her face inches closer to mine and I'm pretty sure that she is about to kiss me.

She throws a cocky grin at me and suddenly dips her hand in the front pocket of my pants. She fishes out my phone and starts typing something. I release the breath that I hadn't realised I was holding. Alice finishes typing and slides the phone back into my pocket again. Then she plants a kiss on my cheek and grabs the door handle, opening the font door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, my Bella." She steps outside and closes the door behind her. Leaving me standing in the hall, unable to move or to think straight.


	4. Chapter 4

**I just want to let you know that I haven't had a chance yet to check this for spelling mistakes or anything. So any mistakes will be corrected tomorrow. I have gotten positive reviews up until now about this story, so thank you all for those and please keep them coming. Enjoy Chapter 4!**

I wake up on the living room couch and shut off my phone alarm. As I glance at the clock I thank God that I always use it as my second alarm, seeing as I have only thirty minutes to spare before Alice will be here to pick me up. I take a quick look around me and see that my living room is in a messy state. And I know that my kitchen doesn't look any better right now. After I made dinner yesterday, I plopped down on the couch and ate. Then I took a quick rest on the couch, leaving the dirty dishes and kitchen utensils for later. But that quick rest turned out to be a full night's sleep. That whole ordeal with my powers really wiped me out more than I thought it had. Lets just say 'Lesson learned!'.

Now I have twenty-five minutes left to tidy up the living room and the kitchen, take a shower and make myself presentable for Alice. There is no way I'll get everything done in time. I could however use my powers. After a whole dish of lasagna for myself and thirteen hours of sleep, my energy levels must have risen quite a bit. I decide to take my chances and start cleaning the living room at vampire speed. Since I'm not feeling lightheaded I might as well continue to the kitchen. I have everything cleaned in record speed and I run upstairs to take a quick shower.

After my shower I put on some clothes. A pair of dark denim skinny jeans and my favourite navy blue top. Just as I swipe the brush through my hair for the last time, the doorbell rings. I glance at my watch and see that I still have about five minutes before Alice is due to pick me up. She must be early then. As I walk down the stairs however, I can't detect Alice's unique scent, so I know it's not her. I open the door and in front of me stands…

"Jacob?" Huh, what is he doing here this early, or at all for that matter.

"Hey Bella. Sorry to drop in on you like this." He stands with one hand in his pocket and with the other one he's nervously scratching behind his ear. "I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here." You got that right. "We're having a bonfire night on the reservation this Sunday and I wanted to invite you to it." Again he nervously scratches his ear.

That sounds cool actually. We used to do stuff like that on the base when we had a day off. "I'd love to."

"Great!" Jacob exclaims enthusiastically. "I'll pick you up at 7PM then." He seems to remember his manners then and hastily adds "If that's alright with you of course." And he nervously scratches his ear again. Why does he keep doing that?

I chuckle and reply in the affirmative. "That's fine with me."

Just as I'm about to say goodbye to Jacob, a car comes driving up the road and turns onto my driveway. And what a car it is! A yellow Chevrolet Camaro is currently parked in MY driveway! Jacob, who has turned to watch the car as well, is standing with his mouth hanging slightly open and is staring at it. My expression must be mirroring his right now. Then Alice's scent hits me and as a smile forms on my face while a frown and a slight look of disgust forms on Jacob's. He quickly tries to hide it as he notices me looking at him, but not before I saw it.

"I'll guess I'll be seeing you on Sunday then?" He asks. I nod. "OK, well uhm, bye then." Before I can even say goodbye he has already turned from me and almost sprinted off the porch steps. I shout a goodbye to him just as he reaches his car. He turns around and I give him a small wave, to which he replies with a smile. Then he gets in his car and drives off.

"Well, that wasn't weird at all." I mutter under my breath in a sarcastic voice. I don't have time to think about Jacob's odd behaviour however, because I hear a car door close and Alice is walking up to me.

"Good morning Bella." She says while she pulls me into a light hug. She is really touchy feely, but I don't mind in the slightest. I happily hug her back and tell her good morning as well.

"Was that a friend of yours?" She asks when she releases me out of the hug, but keeping one of my hands in her own.

"Yeah, well sort of. His name is Jacob and he lives on the reservation." At that something shifts in Alice's eyes, but I ignore it for now. "When I was moving my stuff in last weekend he happened to drive by and he offered me some help."

"That was awfully nice of him." I can't help but wonder about the stiff tone of her voice. "So, why was he here now? Did he just come by for a visit?" This time she keeps the tone of her voice neutral, but her eyes are telling me that something is bothering her.

I cock my eyebrow at her and take my hand out of hers. "He was here to invite me to a party on the reservation on Sunday. Something else you want to know about him?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry." Her expression turns into an apologetic one. "I was just curious, that's all."

I don't buy it, but I leave it alone for now. "Alright. I'm just going to get my backpack and then we can go to school." I don't wait for an answer but walk into my house to get my backpack and my car keys. When I step outside again Alice is already waiting for me by her car. I lock the front door and walk up to her. But my eyes are not on Alice as they normally are, instead they are glued to her car.

I have always been into cars, ever since I was a kid. I was not like the typical everyday girl. I have never been into fashion or shopping, I didn't play dress-up or experimented with my mom's make-up. No, I was the girl that spent her time rolling around in the mud, climbing trees and falling out of them, and who helped dad work on his 1969 Ford Mustang on the weekends. Usually I'm all about the classic cars, that's why I'm still driving that old red Chevy. But I have to say that Alice's car was a beauty too.

She must have noticed me admiring her car, because the next thing she says is, "Bella? Should I give you two a moment alone?"

"Haha, Alice. Very funny." I reply sarcastically.

"Well, you are the one who is practically drooling at the sight of a car. Should I be offended that you are paying more attention to my car than to me right now?" I look up at her face and see that she's directing a cute as hell pout at me. My first instinct is to kiss her. That would be a way to give her some attention, but I decide against it.

"I just can't help it Alice. That's a damn fine car!" I lovingly stroke the hood and her eyes follow my movement.

"Well I'm damn fine as well, but I don't see you patting me on the head for that." Again she pouts at me.

I walk up to her and decide to tease her. "Hmm, yes you are damn fine as well Alice." And I pat her on the head. "But I still think the car wins this competition."

I laugh aloud at the incredulous look on Alice's face. Then she narrows her eyes and glares at me. That makes me laugh even harder. She huffs and turns from me opening the car door and getting into it. I walk to the passenger side and grab for the handle. But before I can reach it, Alice backs the car up a bit. I try for the handle again, but again Alice backs the car up. I glance at her through the windshield and she is smirking at me. So this is how she gets back at me for teasing her. Very mature. I reach for the handle a third time and she backs the car up again. This is getting really annoying now. I full on glare at her this time and now it's her turn to break into laughter.

When I reach for the handle again, she doesn't back up and lets me get into the car while she tries to stop her laughter.

I turn to her and glare at her again. "Very funny Alice."

She manages to stop laughing and replies. "Two can play at that teasing game Bella, only I am more efficient."

I know she's right. I was the one who started it. "You're right. You win this round Alice. But next time your butt is mine."

The look she gives me as I say that makes me feel all tingly in certain areas and I shift in my seat to get rid of those tingles. "Anytime Bella, anytime." The tingles come back full force. Damn me and my big mouth!

* * *

The rest of the car ride went without any further causes for tingly feelings. Which I was glad about, because it is pretty hard to hide the side affects of those feelings for a vampire. Damn heightened sense of smell.

Alice parks the car in the school parking lot and we both get out. I scan the lot for my trusty Chevy and am pleases to see that it's still in the same spot as I left it in yesterday. I turn around to Alice and see that Edward is approaching her, but he's keeping his eyes trained on me. An unreadable expression is on his face. As he reaches us he nods at me in greeting but he doesn't say anything to me, instead focussing his attention on Alice.

"We have to talk, in private." He says this last bit at vampire speed, thinking I can't hear him. Alice looks at him annoyed.

"Do we have to talk now? Can't it wait until after school, when we're at home."

Edward shakes his head. "I would rather not wait." He glances in my direction quickly, thinking I wouldn't notice.

Fine, he wants me gone, then I'll go. "Alice? It's alright if you two need to discuss something. I have to get something out of my truck anyway. Will I see you in class?"

"OK, I'll see you in a few." She directs a smile at me, but as soon as she turns towards her brother, that smile changes into a scowl. I start walking towards my truck and as soon as Edward believes I'm out of earshot he starts talking. I normally don't like to listen in op people's conversations, but I have the feeling that I really want to hear this.

"_Alice, I thought you were going to stay away from her." He says in dismay._

"_I never told you that I would, so I don't know where you got that idea from." Alice states clearly annoyed with her brother._

"_I told you yesterday that I can't read her thoughts. She's the only person I have ever encountered who's thoughts are a mystery to me. Don't you think that is at least a bit strange?"_

"_I don't care about that Edward! I like her and I won't stop being her friend just because you can't read her thoughts." She practically hisses at him._

"_Maybe she's dangerous Alice" He replies and then he pauses for a second. "And she hangs out with that dog as well! She can't be trusted!" Edward is getting mad now._

"_Get out of my mind Edward! That doesn't mean anything, she barely even knows him. I've had enough of this. I'm going to go to class now and hang out with Bella. And I don't care if you have a problem with it!"_

Alice turns on her heel and walks briskly towards the school building. Clearly Edward upset her, which makes me mad at Edward. What is that guys problem? Just because he can't read my mind I'm dangerous? As if I would ever hurt Alice! And what was that about 'a dog'? I don't even have one.

I don't have the time to dwell on it for long however, because the first bell rings just then, which leaves me with just enough time to get to class before the tardy bell rings.

* * *

Eventhough Alice was upset with Edward, she was her usually chipper self during first period. We worked together on some homework after the teacher was done with his oh so boring lecture, during which Alice and I had passed notes to each other.

Second and third period she had art class, while I had P.E.. During P.E. I got acquainted with Angela and Jessica. I recognised Angela as the girl who Eric was talking to yesterday at the start of our History class. Jessica is a friend of both Eric and Angela. I got teamed up with Angela and a bunch of other students for a dodgeball match. I saved her ass a few times by catching the ball before it hit her and she thanked me profusely for it. It seemed that P.E. just wasn't her thing. Jessica was on the other team and I got her early on in the match, which earned me a scowl. But I didn't care about that, it's not like I liked her that much anyway.

She still seemed upset with me at the end of the class, so I apologised to her. As soon as I had she started ranting on about a guy called Mike, so I guess I was forgiven.

We're currently sitting in the cafeteria at their usual table, waiting for the other members of their usual group to arrive. Eric comes walking up to us and with him is a blond haired guy. Judging by the huge smile that is breaking out on Jessica's face, he must be Mike. But her smile soon disappears again as Mike keeps looking at me and doesn't even acknowledge her as she says 'hi' to him. Which earns me another one of her glares.

Mike pulls up a seat next to me and offers me his hand. "Hi, I'm Mike."

I politely take his hand and introduce myself in turn. "Nice to meet you Mike, I'm Bella." Mike holds on to my hand for just a bit too long and he still hasn't taken his eyes of me. Creep. Luckily for me his eyes finally stray from me when we all hear Jessica gasp and turn our attention to what she's gasping about. What I see actually delights me. Alice is walking towards our table.

"Hey Bella, guys. Do you mind if I sit with you?" She asks politely.

Everyone looks too dumbstruck to answer so I do it for them. "That's fine by me Alice, what about you guys?" I nudge Angela in her side and she comes out of her stupor.

"Uhm, of course, please sit down." She manages to get out.

Mike, in an attempt to score some points I'm guessing, offers her his chair. Alice thanks him and then sits down next to me. It stays quiet for a minute until Jessica asks a question that I want to know the answer to as well.

"How come you aren't sitting with the rest of your family?"

Alice looks over at them before she replies. "I just didn't feel like sitting with them today. Why?"

"Well, you always sit together. I don't think any of you ever sat a another table before. So I just wondered." Jessica says and then she gets back to her salad. Soon conversations start up and I focus my attention on Alice.

"Is it because of the argument you had with Edward this morning?" I ask her quietly.

She looks confused at me for a moment. "How do you know we had an argument?"

Shit! Great going dumbass! Think of something to tell her, quickly! "I could see you two from my truck and you both seemed kind of mad. And the way you practically stomped off after told me something was wrong."

She seems to accept my explanation. "Yeah, we had a bit of a fall out. But it's alright, it's just a bit tense between us now. Hence me sitting at a different table."

"And I thought you sat here because of my winning charms." I pout at her and act hurt, trying to cheer her up with my behaviour. And I can tell by the smile that's breaking out on her face that it's working.

"I guess I'm busted. That is exactly the reason why I'm sitting here right now!" She giggles at the end and we look into each others eyes for a moment. Then we both turn our attention to the conversation that is being held by the rest of the people at our table.


	5. Chapter 5

**You know the routine by now: read and please review.**

* * *

While I'm sitting in my truck and driving towards the army base, my mind keeps wondering off to the events of this past week.

The little town of Forks had been everything I had expected it to be. It was small, it was quiet and it was surrounded by a forest that gave the town a peaceful air about it. What I did not expect however, was that I would run into a coven of vampires in Forks. A coven of 'vegetarian' vampires no less. And three of the seven resident vampires in Forks just happen to have a special ability, which I now also possess. One of them even made me end up in the hospital, although that was kinda my own fault.

My mom wasn't too happy with me when I called her up Tuesday night and told her that I had been in the hospital the day before and how I had ended up there. She scolded me at first, but I knew she was just worried about me and my wellbeing. Dad on the other hand, did not get angry with me and only told me to be more careful next time. Then he began asking me loads of questions about my newly gained abilities and the people I got them from. I answered a few of his questions and promised that I would answer the rest when I came by for a visit this weekend.

I pull up to the heavily guarded army base and hand the soldier on duty my ID and my pass. He quickly scans them and hands them back to me, before he proceeds to open the gate for me.

I drive through the familiar streets of the Seattle army base and after a minute or two I pull up at the house that I called my home for about a year and a half. As I park my truck on the driveway, my mom is already stepping out of the house and off the porch, making her way to my truck. As soon as I get out she envelops me into a tight hug. I throw my arms around her as well and hug her back. After a few moments of hugging I try to disentangle myself from my mom, but she isn't letting me go.

"OK mom, you can let go now." I tell her but she still keeps hanging onto me. "Jesus mom" I chuckle at her "I've only been gone for like a week."

She finally breaks the iron grip she has on me and looks me in the eyes. "I know honey, but you've never been away from me for that long. I just missed you."

I smile at her. "I know mom, and to be honest, I missed you too." Before she can get all teary eyed and emotional on me, a gruff voice is calling my name and we both turn to see my dad standing on the porch.

"Dad!" I throw a grin at him and walk up the porch steps. As I come within arms reach of him, he gives me a bit of an awkward one armed hug. Although I'm a daddy's girl and we have a great bond, we almost never let it show through physical contact. That's just not how we are. So this hugging thing is kinda awkward to us both.

Luckily mom saves us from embarrassing ourselves too much and ushers us inside and into the living room. I plop down onto the couch with her and dad situates himself in his comfy chair. Mom is the first one to speak.

"So Bella, tell me, did you meet any nice girls in Forks?"

Yes, I'm out to my parents. I realised I was into girls when I was thirteen and at first I hid it from everyone. But I didn't feel comfortable with lying to my parents, so one night I just sat them down and told them. My dad was dumbfounded for a moment but then he just said 'At least you won't get pregnant'. For mom it was a bit harder to accept at first. She had always hoped on getting a nice son in law and some grandchildren. Seeing as I am an only child, it was up to me to give her those. But she soon realised that I could still give her those things if I wanted to, well at least one of them. She would just have to settle for a daughter in law if it would ever come to that. Even since she had accepted my sexuality she has been on my case constantly.

Now I'm contemplating about telling her and my dad about Alice. Do I tell them that I like her, do I tell them that she's one of the vampires? Do I tell them how I feel about her? Hell, how do I feel about her exactly? It's something that I have been trying to figure out since Monday night, after our almost kiss. I have not been able to stop thinking about her since then. And the way we have been interacting at school sure as hell hasn't been helping me get her off my mind either. We're constantly holding hands or touching each other one way or another. It's all pretty innocent stuff but it is making me crave more. I recall the hug she gave me this afternoon after school when we parted ways.

"You have that glint in your eyes! You have met someone, haven't you?" My mom exclaims. Damn her and her observing skills.

I sigh. "Yes, I have met someone I like. Her name is Alice and I met her at school." And that's all I'm going to tell mom right now. I think dad sees that I want a change of subject and he helps me out.

"So Bella, what about your new abilities? Have you tested them out yet" Thank you dad! Talking about my abilities is something I can handle right now.

"Actually I haven't. After what happened on Monday with me fainting and everything, I thought it would be best to give my body some rest for a few days." I tell him and he nods at me.

"That was probably a wise decision." He pauses for a moment. "Do you think you're ready to test them out now? The guys down at the lab are very eager to see your new skills."

"Of course!" I respond eagerly and stand up from the couch, already on my way to the front door. My dad just chuckles and follow behind me.

As I open the door my mom calls out to me, "We'll continue our talk later Bella!" Damn it!

* * *

Dad enters the office building first and I follow him. The soldier behind the information desk gives a polite nod to both my dad and me. We continue to the elevator and get in. On the panel inside the elevator are located a number of buttons that all indicate floors that are higher up. But that's not where we're going, we're going down. My dad punches in a specific code, using the regular buttons on the panel. As he finishes putting in the code, I feel the elevator start to move downwards.

There are not a lot of people on this base, or in the army for that matter, who know about the underground structure of this building. Everything that goes on down here is on a need to know basis, seeing as it not usual army business that is conducted here.

On this base, my dad is the superior officer of a special division that deals with everything supernatural. The code name of this division, as everything in the army has to have a code name, is 'The Unseen'. I am one of the few soldiers in the US army that is part of this division. And that's because I am also one of the few who possess qualities that are considered to be supernatural.

My mom and dad first discovered that something was different about me when I was seven years old. My mom had signed me up for piano lessons, because I refused to try out ballet. The piano lessons I was actually happy about, because even as a kid I already loved music. So my mom took my to first lesson and shook hands with my teacher, Mrs. Cornwall. As my mom and Mrs. Cornwall were introducing themselves to each other, I walked over to the piano and got seated in front of it. I placed my hands on the keys and glanced at the notes on the sheet. Before I even realised what was happening, my fingers were manipulating the keys and I was playing the piano like an expert. When I finished the piece I looked at my mom and Mrs. Cornwall, who were both staring at me with their mouths open. I remember laughing at their silly expressions.

When mom and I got home that day, she told my dad what had happened during my piano lesson. But they didn't talk to me about it and I didn't ask. I was seven, what did I care? I was just happy that I could play the piano.

But as I got older, I also noticed that something was different about me. I noticed how I was able to quickly learn new things, how I could do things I had never even practised. When I was twelve we went out for dinner in a fancy restaurant and the chef had come out to meet us. So I had politely shaken his hand and the by then familiar tingles coursed through my arm. When we got home that night, I practically ran into the kitchen and started opening cabinets, getting out ingredients and pots and pans like I was possessed. I remember my parents just stood in the door opening watching how their twelve year old daughter was preparing a gourmet meal. When I was finished it seemed like my head seemed to clear and I sat down at the kitchen table, where I burst into tears. My mom and dad were at my side quickly then and tried to console me while I cried and called myself 'a freak'.

The day after that incident, my mom and dad sat me down and told me that I was special and that I wasn't like other kids my age. A man came to our house that day and he introduced himself as Dr. Howard. He was one of dads colleagues and he was the one who finally explained to me how they thought I was special.

For other kids my age this might have been a lot to take in and they would have probably freaked out, but I didn't. I actually welcomed the explanation Dr. Howard, or David as I call him now, handed to me.

I became involved in the army not long after that. I still went to school and did what other kids my age did, but I also took part in the research of David and his team. They told me that I had a special ability that worked like a sponge. Whenever I touched someone who had a special talent or skill, I would copy that ability and make it my own. But it only worked if I came into direct contact with the person who possessed the skill. Together with David I tested my newfound skills, under the watchful eye of my father of course.

When I turned 17 I officially enlisted, with my parents consent, and David decided it was time to take his research to the next level. He introduced me to a guy called James, who also was a part of 'The Unseen', though I had never seen him before. The first thing I noticed about James was the colour of his eyes. They were red and I was pretty sure that wasn't normal. So I assumed that like me, he had a special ability of some sort. Well, I was right, kinda. When I shook his hand the familiar tingles travelled up my arm, but this time they ran up my spine, straight to my head. And then something happened that had never happened before. I saw images in my head with James at the centre of them. It was like I was watching a film and he was the main character. When the images stopped I looked up at James and saw his red eyes again. The only thing that entered my mind right then was 'Vampire!'.

So that is how I found out about the existence of vampires. That was about a year ago. James told me everything there was to know about vampires then and he showed me how to use the skills I had copied from him.

I spent another year at the base, honing my skills and gaining new ones. But a longing for freedom was growing within me. So about a month ago I told my mom and dad that I wanted to try living on my own, seeing more of the world outside of the army. They both agreed that I was old enough to try to live on my own for a while and dad arranged a temporary leave for me.

I ended up in Forks, where I planned on leading a simple and ordinary life. But those plans were thrown right out the window when I met Alice and her family. And now, only a week after I left, I'm back at the base where I'm about to finally test out my new abilities.

You just have to love my life.


	6. Chapter 6

**I was on a roll so I decided to just post this chapter as well. Please Review!**

* * *

I walk through the familiar white hallways, my dad walking a few paces ahead. We pass the cafeteria, the swimming pool, several offices and then we finally arrive at the lab. But to my surprise, dad doesn't stop at the lab. Instead he keeps walking towards the end of the hallway, where the training area is situated. When we reach the doors to the training area he stops walking and turns around to me.

"Why don't you go change into uniform and I'll go get David and his team." He says to me.

"Uhm… OK. Is this new policy or something? I thought we always did the lab tests first?" I ask him confused.

"I can sense that you're eager to get to the fun stuff, so for this one time I'm making an exception."

I direct a radiant smile at him. "Thank you dad!" Then I proceed into the changing room. I easily find my way to my locker and take out one of the standard issue army uniforms I like so much. I quickly change into it and make my way into the training area. A familiar face greets me as I enter it.

"Bella! Good to see you again." James tells me as he walks up to me.

"James! They didn't tell me you were back already. I thought you were still in Italy." I meet him halfway and give him a light hug. Ever since I met James about a year ago he and I have become close friends.

"I was supposed to stay for another month or say, but my cover got blown, so my mission had to be cancelled." He doesn't sound too happy about that.

The last three months James had been on an undercover mission in a city called Volterra. We know that's the city where the 'government' of the vampire world is situated, but we have never managed to get really close to them. We only have the basic information. We know they're called 'the Volturi', we know about their basic command structure and we know who the leaders are. But besides that they're pretty much a mystery to us.

James was supposed to infiltrate their ranks and get some inside information on them as soon as he had gained their trust.

"What went wrong?" I ask him.

"One of the Volturi guardsmen, Felix, followed me to the place where I was supposed to meet up with one of our Intel officers. He had managed to follow me undetected and by the time I finally noticed his presence, he already knew too much." He says in dismay.

"How are we going to proceed further?" This was about our only chance we had to learn more about the Volturi. It's not like we have another dozen of vampires hidden up our sleeves.

"I don't know. I haven't received any new orders yet."

The doors to the training area open then and in walk my dad and David, behind them is trailing his team of researchers. David sees me and immediately directs a smile at me, which I reply to with a smile of my own.

"I didn't think I would see you back here so soon Bella."

"Well I didn't think I would run into a coven of vampires in my first week away from the base David." I banter back.

"Then I bet you were really surprised, but delighted nonetheless, that three of them had special abilities." His eyes light up as he mentions this and I can see he is just as eager for me to test my newfound abilities as I am.

"Should we begin then?" He directs this question at my dad.

He looks at me. "Whenever you're ready Bells."

I grin at him in response. "OK David, which one do you want me to test out first?"

"Well let's see, we have the mind reading, the clairvoyance and the ability to control emotions." He seems to think for a moment. "Why don't we just start with the mind reading?"

"That's fine by me." I reply to him. "I'm assuming that James is here to function as my guinea pig?" I look over at James and he nods in response.

"OK then, here we go." I shut my eyes for a second and turn on my ability to read minds. See, this has always been the easy part. My body and mind switch on the ability I want to use by themselves, all I have to do is give a mental command and it gets done.

As soon as that invisible switch is flicked on, it seems like several voices begin screaming in my ears all at ones. I will most of them to go away and try to focus on David's voice. One by one the other voices disappear until only David's voice is left.

'_Bella, can you hear me? Tap your nose if you can.'_

I open my eyes and look at him, trying to keep from laughing as I tap my nose. My dad and James look at me funnily and I shrug my shoulders. "Hey, just following orders here."

I look back at David again and focus on his thoughts once more.

'_I'm assuming you heard me then.' _He chuckles inwardly and I am the only one who can hear him. I nod in the affirmative.

'_Tell me out loud what number I'm thinking of right now.'_

David starts rambling of various numbers in his head and I repeat them flawlessly. "…, 21, 67, 349, 590579." I finish as he says the last number in his head.

"This is astounding!" He exclaims excitedly. "You really can hear my thoughts!" His colleagues are muttering excitedly amongst themselves. They're probably thinking up all sorts of tests for me to undergo in their lab later. Oh the joy.

"Could you tell me how the process worked when you first turned the ability on?" David asks me.

"At first it sounded like all you guys were screaming in my ears all together. But I could still make out the differences between the voices. So I began singling them out. Once I had them all separated I began dimming them one by one, until only yours was left." I tell him.

"Amazing. And you got it on under control pretty quickly it seems." He writes something down on the clipboard he's holding and then he turns his attention back to me again.

"Should we continue with the other abilities? How about the clairvoyance? Can you already tell me something about how it works?"

I nod at him in the affirmative. "I know how it works through the memories of the girl I got it from. When someone makes a decision, one that involves me or my interference somehow, I see that decision play out in my head." I pause for a moment, waiting for David to finish writing on his clipboard. "But the visions are subjective, and they can change when the person who made it changes their mind."

"This sounds very interesting." David says and he then turns to James. "I would like to test this clairvoyance during a fight between you and Bella. If you would be so kind to assist?"

"Of course I will." James replies and he and I both walk to the boxing ring that stands at the centre of the training area. We enter it and both take up a corner so we're facing each other.

"Just let me know when you're ready Bella." James tells me.

I close my eyes and shut off the mind reading before I switch on the clairvoyance. Once I feel that I have successfully switched it on, I open my eyes and look at James. "Bring it on." I say while I smirk his way.

Sparring with James has always been one of my favourite activities here on the base. Since he's a vampire he possesses the same strength and speed that I have as well, so I can go full out while fighting him. When I'm sparring with one of the regular soldiers, I always have to keep my powers in check.

James puts up his fists and approaches me. Suddenly a vision hits me. I see James coming at me with his left fist and it's aimed for my head. Then he follows with a sweep to my legs which sends me flying on my back. I snap out of my vision and James is coming at me just like in my vision. I deflect his blow to my head and jump over his leg sweep easily. When I land on my feet again I throw a cocky smirk at him.

We continue the fight and very move he tries, I see coming in my head before it does in reality. So I am able to deflect or dodge all of his attacks. Until one of his kicks hit me in my stomach and sends me flying backwards.

Motherfucker! I scream inwardly as I land on my back. I thought he was about to try an elbow jab on me! I sit up and glare at James who's smirking at me now.

"Thought I was going to try with my elbow right? I changed my mind at the last second." He says.

Damn it! I forgot about that. I guess it won't be the best idea to rely on this particular ability when my opponent knows I possess it. James walks towards me and extends his hand to me. I take it and he helps me up. I shut off the clairvoyance.

I turn towards David and address him. "I guess that only leaves us with one more. Do you want me to use James for that as well?"

David seems to think about that for a moment. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. We don't know if you will be able to control it at first and I don't like the idea of an out of control vampire. No offense James."

"I guess you're right." I turn toward the group of researchers. "Any volunteers gentlemen?" When none of them responds, my dad steps forward. "I'll volunteer Bella. Just try not to embarrass me too much please."

I chuckle at him. "I'll try dad, promise."

I turn on the empathy power and focus my attention on my dad. Now, which emotion do I want him to feel? Let's try making him feel happy at me. I shoot a wave of happiness at him and next thing I know, he begins laughing hysterically. One of the researchers who is standing behind him, joins in as well. Tears of joy actually begin streaming down their faces.

I guess that was a bit too much of happiness that I directed, and it was off course as well. I shoot a wave of calm at both my dad and the researcher and they instantly stop laughing. Serene looks appear on their faces. I decide to try the happy wave on my dad again, only this time a smaller dosage and better aimed. A smile forms on his face and I can tell that this time I succeeded.

I turn off my power and focus my attention on David. "I think I've gotten the hang of this now."

"Great," David exclaims, "Then let's proceed into the lab."

* * *

I close the front door to my house beside me and drop down onto the couch. I feel a bit worn out but fulfilled as well. These last two days had been busy for me, but also fun. Beside the endless hours I had spent in the lab with David and his team, I also had the time to catch up with some of my friends on the base, like my mom and dad and James of course.

Still I was glad to be back in Forks again, where my Alice was as well. _My _Alice? Where did that just come from? Did I really just think that? That girl really gets to me, more than anyone else ever has. I know I like her and I think I'm falling for her as well. My thoughts about Alice are disturbed by the sound of my doorbell ringing. I stand up from the couch to go open the door. I open it and Jacob is standing before me.

"Hey Bella, ready to go?" He asks me.

I glance at my watch and see that it's already 7PM. Damn it, I didn't know it was that late already.

"Hey Jacob, actually I'm not ready yet. I just got home and I didn't know it was already this late. So if could give me about fifteen minutes to get ready, that would be great."

"Sure, no problem." He tells me.

"Thanks, so uhm… make yourself at home and I'll be right back." I step aside and let him enter the house. "If you want a drink, you know where to look." At that I head up the stairs. Once I am out of Jacob's line of sight, I begin to get ready for the party at vampire speed. I quickly shower and get dressed and head downstairs again. Jacob is sitting on the couch in the living room and he's watching TV. I cough to get his attention.

"Wow Bella, that was quick for a girl. I take it you're not the type who spends half her day in front of her mirror." He grins at me. "So, ready to go now?"

"I'm ready whenever you are Jacob."

"OK, if we're going to be friends, and I'm hoping we will, please refrain from calling me Jacob. That just makes me sound so, I don't know, old." He scrunches up his name at that thought. "Just call me Jake, alright?"

"Alright Jake, let's go then."

* * *

We arrive at our destination after a fifteen minute drive, which Jake and I spend talking about or families and pasts. There wasn't one awkward silence between us, telling me that Jake and I were going to become great friends.

We get out of the car and we're immediately greeted by two boys who look to be about the same age as me and Jake are.

"Hey Jake and… Bella I assume?" One of them asks.

"Uhm, yeah. That's me." I say in response. The boy turns towards Jake and punches him in the arm.

"So she really exists." At this I look confused and the second boy notices my look.

"Jake here hasn't stopped talking about you since last weekend. But since none of us here ever saw or met you, we didn't know if the mystery girl he kept on about was real." The boy smirks.

I look at Jake and see that his face has turned beet red and he is doing that scratching thing again. Wait a minute! He has been talking about me all the time, he has been doing that scratching thingy around me and he got embarrassed about what his friend just told me. Shit, I think he likes me. I better tell him what the deal is before things get out of hand.

First I need to get rid of his two friends.

"Well, as you can see, I do exist. Could you excuse us for a minute…?" I trail of at the end, not knowing their names.

The boy who spoke first says their names. "Embry and Quill." Then they both turn around and walk towards a group of people standing by a big bonfire. Once I'm certain they're out of earshot, I turn my attention back in Jake.

"Jake, I have to tell you something about myself and I don't know how you're going to react. But I have to tell you either way." I say to him in a serious tone.

"OK, what it is Bella?"

"I'm gay." I think I'll just leave it at that and see how he reacts.

His facial expression changes into one of confusion, then into one of understanding and then into one of embarrassment. He opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it again. Seeming to think over his response.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." He pauses. "But I'm cool with that. So uhm…" Then he trails off, not knowing what else to say. So I help him out.

"Let's go over there," I say while nodding towards the bonfire. "Then you can introduce me to the rest of your friends."

We make our way over to the bonfire and Jake clears his throat to get everybody's attention. "Everyone, this is Bella, she's the new girl in town that I told you about."

A big guy steps towards me and extends his to me. "It's nice to meet you Bella. I'm Sam."

I take his hand in mine and this time I'm actually surprised about the tingles that creep up my arm and into my head. When Sam's life stops flashing before my eyes, I take a deep breath and all I'm thinking is 'Holy Shit!'.


	7. Chapter 7

**OK so this is my third update in two days. The good reviews I got on the other two updates really inspired me to keep writing. So thank you guys and keep 'm coming!**

* * *

Holy shit! How did I not see this coming? He's a freaking wolf! Which means that I'm a wolf now too, well at least partially. This is just fantastic, like three new abilities weren't enough already, I get to be a wolf as well. All in the course of one week. This is a lot to take in. Fuck my life sideways.

My internal ramblings must have gone on for a bit too long, because Jake is asking me if I'm alright. "Bella? You OK there?"

Think of an explanation Bella. "Uhm, yeah. Sorry, just zoned out there for a minute. I just had a really busy weekend and am a bit worn out. Hence my lack of concentration." Please buy it, come on.

"That's understandable," Thank you God or whoever is out there, "let's go sit down and have a drink."

Jake leads me over to a wooden bench near the bonfire. While I sit down he gets us some drinks, which gives me the time to reflect upon the new information I just gathered through Sam's memories. First off, werewolves are real. Second, I have met four of them, Jake being one, but he is just a puppy. Third, I have touched one of them, the alpha. Which means that I can shape shift into a werewolf now.

Jake returns with our drinks and hands me mine, then he sits next to me on the bench. "Are you sure you're alright?", he inquires, "you seem really distracted."

"Yes, I'm fine, really. Like I said before, I'm just a bit tired." I smile at him reassuringly. "So uhm, do you often have bonfire nights? I used to love it when I got together with my friends at the base and had a bonfire night."

"We have one every month, during the full moon. It's actually some kind of tradition, but nowadays we just see it as an excuse to have a bit of a party." He grins at me.

I look up at the sky and see that there actually is a full moon out. Thank god these werewolves are not like those in the movies. If so, everyone one would have been howling at the moon right now. I envision Jake throwing his head back while he howls at the moon and the thought makes me chuckle. It doesn't go unnoticed by Jake.

"What?" He says.

Let's mess with him a bit. "Oh nothing, the full moon just made me think about werewolves, that's all. You know, that stuff out of the movies." Jake visibly tenses at the mention of werewolves, but he quickly shakes it off and replies.

"Yeah, but that stuff is all fictional. There are no werewolves out to get you tonight Bella." He jokes. "And even if there were, I would protect you from them." He sounds sincere. Then he changes the subject. "So, how was your first week in Forks?"

'Well Jake, I met four vampires at school. I ended up in the hospital because my energy levels had dropped through the absorbing of some new supernatural abilities. I can now read minds, see the future and manipulate people's emotions. And just now I found out that you and your buddies are werewolves. And guess what, I can turn into a wolf now as well. How was your weekend Jake?' Hmm, I guess telling him the truth about my week wouldn't be the best of ideas. Instead I settle on a different version.

* * *

"I had a great time tonight Jake, thanks for inviting me." I smile at him sincerely. "And thanks for the ride." I tell him as I get out of his car.

"No problem Bella." He replies. "I had a great time as well. Do you think you would like to attend bonfire night again some time?" He sounds hopeful.

"I think I would like that yeah. And in the meantime, if you want to hang out, just call me." I tell him.

"I'll do that. Now, goodnight Bella."

"Goodnight Jake." I shut the passenger door to Jake's car and he drives off. I walk towards the house but don't go in just yet, instead I sit down on the porch steps. Again my mind drifts off towards the wolves, just like it has been doing the whole night. I'm really curious about my new shape shifting ability and am eager to test it. I think about it for another minute and then decide that I'm just going to do it.

I bring up all the details in my mind about the shift and then I step inside the house to prepare myself. I change my clothes and put on the oldest shirt and sweatpants I can find. Then I grab a blanket and head back downstairs. I step into my backyard and lay the blanket on a chair. That way I won't have to trot around my backyard in my birthday suit after I change back from my wolf form.

I close my eyes and mentally switch on my wolf abilities. Immediately, I feel my body temperature rise, my senses heighten in acuteness and I feel strength coursing through my body. It all feels absolutely amazing.

Now comes the fun part. I concentrate on being a wolf, and just like that, my body seems to take over for me. A light pain shoots through my body at first, then it becomes stronger and I hunch forward. I can feel my body start changing and I hear the tear of clothes. I close my eyes from the pain I'm feeling. Suddenly the pain subsides. I breathe in deeply a few times to calm myself and then I open my eyes.

I look down at myself and what I see makes me gasp, or at least that's how it sounded in my head. When the actual sound reaches my ears however, it sounds more like a sort of growl. I am covered in brown fur from head to toe, or paw, whatever. I whip my head around and notice that I also have a tail. I knew I was going to have one, but it's still pretty cool.

After a few moments I'm done observing myself and I start walking towards the forest behind my house. I take everything in with my new wolf senses and I immediately notice that I'm experiencing every sound, sight and smell differently then when I use my vampire senses.

I wonder how fast I can run. I start off at an easy pace, but pick it up more and more as I go, and before I know it I'm full on sprinting and it feels absolutely amazing. I slow down my pace again and as I arrive at a creek. I approach it and take a drink of water, even that tastes different now.

I raise my head and a delicious smell enters through my nose. It smells heavenly and it seems somehow familiar to me, but I can't place it. I take another sniff and decide to investigate where this smell is coming from. I begin tracking the scent and it leads me deeper into the forest. It keeps getting stronger and stronger, so I know I'm getting closer to the source. After a few minutes I arrive at the edge of a clearing. The scent is coming from somewhere in the clearing and I scan it with my eyes.

I can see someone sitting in the high grass at the other end of the clearing and I recognise that someone as Alice. It seems like my mind stops working then and I feel something tug at my heart fiercely. Everything around me fades away and all I can see, smell and hear is Alice. My Alice. The desire I feel to be with her then overwhelms me, and being this far away from her when she is that close almost physically hurts me. I have to go to Alice.

I break into a run and start sprinting across the clearing. Alice seems to finally notice me as I get nearer to her, but her actions surprise me. As soon as she sees me, she starts running in the other direction. Why is my Alice running from me? I start running even faster and I'm getting closer and closer to her as I chase her through the forest. Once I'm close enough to her, I jump at her and tackle her to the ground. As we collide onto the forest floor she kicks me off of her and I land on my back a few feet away from her. She quickly crouches down into a defensive position and hisses at me.

I'm thoroughly confused right now. Why did she just kick me and why is she fighting me? I get up form the ground and wince as I do so, she really kicked me hard. This time I approach her slowly and she doesn't back away, as I get closer I say her name. It comes out as a bark and she hisses at me again. Still, I keep approaching her. I just have to be near her. All of a sudden she comes flying at me, hitting me in the jaw with a fist, following her punch with another kick to my ribs. I double over from the pain while she takes up a defensive crouch again.

"Why are you not fighting back?" She yells at me. I lock my eyes onto hers and we stare at each other for a minute, neither of us making a move. Suddenly something in her eyes seems to shift and a confused look crosses her features. She sniffs the air and the confused look intensifies. The pain radiating from my ribs becomes unbearable and I start whimpering. When I look up I see that Alice is slowly advancing on me, I just hold still, not daring to move. When she is just a few feet away from me, she sniffs the air again. This time a look of recognition crosses her face.

"B…Bella?" She practically stutters out.

I whimper in response and just nod my head, not wanting to bark or growl at her accidentally.

"Oh my god Bella, is that really you?" She takes the last few steps towards me and cautiously reaches a hand out to me. I move my head towards it and nuzzle it, feeling very content although I'm still in quite a lot of pain.

"It is you!" She exclaims and throws her arms around my neck, crushing her body into mine. This time I actually howl from the pain in my ribs and I sag through my legs. She quickly stops hugging me and takes a step back. "Oh God what have I done! I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you!"

I feel my strength slowly leaving me and the world around me slowly starts fading to black. I feel my body start changing back into my human form. I slump forward and Alice's catches me in her strong arms. Then everything around me goes pitch black.

* * *

The first thing I notice when I wake up, is that I'm surrounded with Alice's smell. I press my nose into the pillow that my head is resting on and Alice's smell enters me through my nose. It really is a divine smell.

Being surrounded in Alice's scent is definitely wonderful, but it doesn't compare to seeing her and being near her. I open my eyes and scan the room I'm in, but Alice is nowhere to be seen. I should go look for her. I get up from the bed and as soon as I do I notice something is very wrong. I look down at myself and I see that I'm not wearing any clothes. My face turns tomato red and I let out a small yelp before I quickly jump into bed again, wrapping the sheets around me.

Just as I have finished covering myself up, Alice storms into the room. Frantically looking around her. Then she looks at me. "Are you alright? I thought I heard something." She asks worriedly.

"That uhm, that was me. I just got out of bed and realised that I was na…" I trail off and suddenly realise something else. I'm naked in Alice's bed and she's probably the one that brought me here after I involuntarily shifted back into my human form last night. Which means that Alice has seen me naked! My eyes widen quite a bit at that realisation.

"Oh, uh…" Alice seems to catch on to what I'm thinking and starts nervously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "I, uh… when you changed back, you were kind of wearing no clothes." I'm blushing like mad right now and if she could have, then I bet she would have been doing the exact same thing.

Before either of us can embarrass ourselves any further, someone knocks on the door. "Alice, can I come in?" I recognise Carlisle voice. Alice looks at me and I nod at her, silently telling her it is OK for Carlisle to come in.

"It's alright Carlisle."

Carlisle pokes his head around the door first before he steps into the room. "Ah Bella, it's good to see that you're awake. How are you feeling?" He asks me sincerely.

"Pretty well actually, considering… you know." I don't want to say 'considering Alice beat me up pretty bad last night'. I really do not want her to feel guilty about anything. But I guess she is feeling guilty already, because it's not Carlisle who's the first one to speak.

"Bella I'm so, so sorry!" She approaches the bed and sits on the edge. "If I had known it was you I would have never attacked you like that!"

"I know Alice." I take one of her hands into mine to reassure her that I really do not blame her. "I shouldn't have tackled you like that in my wolf form. You had no way of knowing it was me. I really don't blame you. And besides, I have already healed."

"So it's true then," Carlisle jumps in, "that you're a wolf I mean?"

"Actually no." I pause for a bit contemplating on whether to tell them the truth about me. I glance over at Alice and as I do I decide that I should tell them. I haven't felt comfortable lying to her in the first place, and she already knows part of it. So I guess it's time for me to come clean.

"I think you should get the whole family together, then I'll explain."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, here is chapter 8. For me this was a really hard chapter to write, although I don't know why. I just hope that you think it turned out alright. Thanks for all the positive reviews on chapter 7. Just to clear one thing up: Yes, Bella did imprint on Alice.**

**I have a question for you concerning something else. A while ago I read a fic here on the site, but I can't seem to find it anymore. In the fic, Bella Cullen is a college professor who teaches political sience. Alice is one of the students in her class and finds herself falling in love with Bella (and Bella with Alice). Edward is an accomplished musician and Bella's brother in this fic. Does anyone know where I can find this story?**

* * *

Carlisle just left Alice's bedroom to round up the members of his family. Well, the ones who aren't in the house yet, because the ones who are overheard our conversation anyway. I don't know how I feel about coming clean to the Cullens. I feel glad and happy about it, because I don't have to lie to Alice anymore. But I'm unhappy with the fact that I'm going to break a lot of rules laid down to me by the army, and by my dad. I feel like I've let him down by exposing myself like this. Just one week away from the base and I've already managed to screw up.

Alice's voice brings me out of my musings. "I got you some clothes from your house last night. I just grabbed the first things I could find, so I hope sweatpants are alright."

This once again points out to me that I'm still naked, with Alice in the room. Now, under other circumstances this probably wouldn't have bothered me, but now I feel self-conscious and a bit nervous. I look around the room and spot my clothes lying folded up on Alice's desk.

"Could you uhm… hand them to me please?" I ask Alice, trying to avoid looking her in the eyes.

She rushes out. She stands up and grabs my clothes, laying them down on the bed. Then she returns to her former position again, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I say nothing and instead just raise one of my eyebrows at her.

A look of realisation crosses her face. "Oh! Right! Time for me to get out. Sorry!" She rushes out and practically leaps to the door. Before she steps out of her room she turns back to me. "I'll be waiting in the living room with the rest of the family. Just come down whenever you're ready." With that she leaves her room and I hear her descend the stairs.

I get up from the bed and quickly put on my clothes. I glance at the door and then at the window. The thought of making a run for it enters my mind for a second, but I quickly get rid of that thought. Running away at this point would be useless. They could easily track me for one, and even if they didn't, I still had to face four of the Cullens at school. I sigh and make my way out of Alice's bedroom, into the hallway. I can hear some murmurs coming from downstairs, but as soon as I set foot on the stairs, it becomes eerily quiet.

I slowly descend the stairs, feeling nervous about facing all of the Cullens at once. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I finally look up to see them all staring back at me. Well, except for Edward, he's over at his piano glaring at me. Rosalie and Esmee are seated on one of the couches, Emmett is standing behind them with his arms crossed. On the other couch are Alice and Carlisle and Jasper is leaning against the far wall.

I take a few steps closer to the couch that Alice is sitting on, but I remain standing. I rub my hands together a few times and then drag one through my hair. I take a last deep breath and then start talking.

"So, I guess you all want me to explain a few things to you, because you probably know what happened last night." No one replies verbally, but Carlisle nods at me.

"OK, uhm… first off, I'm not a werewolf."

Edward snorts at this. "Then how do you explain looking like one? And attacking my sister?" He says in a loud and angry sounding voice.

"I did not attack Alice! I would never do anything to harm her!" I look at Alice after this exclamation. "You have to believe me, I could never hurt you. I swear." I hate how desperate my voice sounds right now.

Alice smiles softly at me. "I know, I believe you. You can continue your story," She turns towards Edward, "my brother will not interrupt you anymore." She glares at him warningly. To which he responds by glaring back at her, but keeping his mouth shut.

"As I said just now, I'm not a wolf. But I do possess the same abilities that the wolves have. I can transform into a wolf and I have their advanced sense of hearing and smell, and all their other abilities." I pause for a second before I continue. "Just like I possess all the abilities that vampires have."

Now it's Carlisle who speaks up. "How is that possible when you're human? Which I believe you are. And from what I understand, only the descendants from the Quileute tribe are wolves. I haven't encountered or heard of other wolves in the past two centuries."

Now we're coming to the thing that this whole conversation is centred around. Which is me. "I'm not a descendant from the Quileute tribe, or any other tribe. And I am one hundred percent human." Once again I pause, taking a deep breath. Realising that I'm about to reveal my secret. "I am different from other humans however, because I was born with a special ability. Just like three of you were."

Everyone looks at me expectantly. "I was born with the ability to copy other abilities and make them my own." Well, my secret is out now, the only thing to do now is wait for a reaction.

Esmee is the one to speak first. "When did you find out that you possessed this ability?"

I tell the Cullens the story of my piano lesson, about the restaurant and what happened after. I pretty much tell them everything that has happened to me before I moved to Forks. When I finish telling them my history, their expressions differ from surprised, thoughtful, neutral and… sad. The look on Alice's face nearly breaks my heart in two.

"You… you lied about all this to me?" She sounds absolutely heartbroken and I feel horrible. I lower my head, because I can't bear looking at her face anymore, it pains me too much.

"Yes I did lie. But I had to, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone of my secret. They're very strict about that in the army." I try to explain.

The next thing she says shocks me. "Did you also lie about being my friend? Did you just get close to us because it was some kind of order you got from the army? To get something out of us?"

My head whips up so fast that I'm surprised that I didn't just break my neck. "No! Of course I didn't!" She looks away from me. I hunch down in front of her and take her head between my hands, turning it and forcing her to look at me. "Alice, I swear to you, I did not befriend you because it was one of my orders or because I want something from you. I befriended you because I just wanted to. I looked at you and knew that I wanted to get to know you. And not because you're a vampire either. I don't care about that, I just care about you." I fall silent and Alice doesn't say anything either, we just look in each others eyes. Then she lunges forward and throws her arms around my neck, burying her face in the crook of it. I throw my arms around her waist and we stay like that for a few moments.

Until Rosalie scratches her throat, effectively gaining our attention. "Well, this is all very touching, but can we get back to the initial conversation? I have places to be you know."

She says in a bored 'I-don't-care-about-this-shit-tone'. Typical Rosalie.

Alice disentangles herself from me, but she grabs hold of one of my hands. I sit down on the armrest of the couch.

"Can you tell us some more about how your ability works?" Carlisle asks in a genuinely interested tone.

"In order for my ability to kick in, I have to be in direct physical contact with another person, skin to skin. I can't control my ability, so once I touch someone who possesses an ability of their own, I automatically copy it. But I don't just copy that. I also copy the memories of that person, although we haven't really figured out why. The researchers at the army think it's in order for me to understand my new ability better." I pause and think about what else there is to tell them. "Using my own ability takes a lot out of me, it requires great amounts of energy. That's actually the reason why I fainted when I shook Edward's hand."

Emmett speaks up for the first time. "And our Eddie here thought she fainted because of his charms and electric touch." He snickers at his own joke and Alice giggles, while Edward just looks at them annoyed.

"I thought no such thing!" He assures the rest of us. "So you possess our abilities now?" This question is directed at me of course.

"Yes I do. I can see the future, manipulate emotions and read minds." I tell him. As an afterthought I add, "All minds." Rubbing in his face that he can't read mine.

"How come I can't read yours?" He sounds bothered by this. "When I first met you in the cafeteria you did not yet possess my ability. How come I couldn't read your mind then?"

"From Alice's memories I knew that you possessed the mind reading ability. Her memories also contained the knowledge of how to construct a mental wall, because she has used one herself a few times in the past. I just used that knowledge to construct one of my own. To keep you out of my head and keep my secret safe."

"Then why are you still blocking me out now?" He asks me.

I let my wall down for a moment. _Because I like to keep my thoughts to myself. I have this need for a little thing called privacy. I don't want you in my head all the time, understood?_ And just like that I raise the wall again.

He surprises me with his answer. "I'm sorry, you're right. You do have a right to your privacy. It just unnerves me that someone has the power to shut me out. I'm used to hearing everyone's thoughts and although I wish I could turn my ability off so everyone else can have the privacy that you have, it's still strange for me that I can't hear you."

"Apology accepted. And I can understand why that would make you feel a bit uneasy around me." I say to Edward and then I remember something that I forgot to tell all of them. "Now that we are talking about powers that can't be shut off; mine are not the same. Except for my own, all other abilities I have are usually shut off. I have to turn them on when I want to use them. The only ones that I can keep turned on all the time are my heightened senses and my super strength. The other ones take too much out of my energy reserves when I use them too long."

"That makes sense." Carlisle thinks out loud. "The heightened senses and super strength are abilities that are extended from your own human abilities. Whereas the mind reading for example is not a trait that humans usually possess." Carlisle is about to add something else, but someone rudely interrupts him. Or should I say something. My stomach starts rumbling and I realise that I haven't eaten anything since the party last night. And that was only one hot dog. Suddenly I'm aware of the fact that I'm very hungry.

"I think the human is hungry." Rosalie exclaims. "She has to eat something. Does this mean that we can go now?"

"Yes, I think we were about to round off this conversation anyway for now. You're all free to go." Slowly, everyone begins clearing out of the living room. On his way into the kitchen Carlisle turns to me. "Would it be alright if I asked you some more questions sometimes? I'm rather intrigued by all of this."

"Yeah, no problem." I tell him and he walks out of the living room. Leaving me, Alice and my rumbling stomach by ourselves.

I look into Alice's eyes and realise that there are still some things that I need to tell her. Her eyes tell me that there also is something that is bothering her. But I realise that now is not the time to discuss those things and I think that she realises that as well. We remain silent until my stomach makes it presence know once again, demanding I give it food.

"I think we need to get some food into you, judging by the protests coming from your stomach." Alice says. "We don't have anything in the house though, since we follow a different diet than you do." She jokes and I chuckle, glad that things seem to be alright between us.


	9. Chapter 9

**Again, thank you for all of the positive reviews and for answering my question about the other fic. Someone pointed out something to me that I didn't know about. On the first day that Bella went to school, her classes were different than the ones she had on her second day. It's the way how it works over here in the Netherlands, but apparantly it doesn't in the USA. I apologise for that inconsistency. **

**Enjoy chapter 9 and please review!**

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I let myself fall onto the couch in my living room and close my eyes, finally feeling satisfied after having a late breakfast just now. After a few moments I feel the couch dip slightly, meaning that Alice has decided to sit down as well. I open my eyes and turn my head a bit to look at her. She is staring ahead of her and it seems like she is in deep thought. As I keep looking at her this feeling of intense longing starts building up inside me. I glance at the space that is left between us on the couch and feel the strong need to erase that space. I start inching closer towards Alice, not thinking about anything else than the feel of her skin pressing up against mine. Alice doesn't seem to notice me gravitating closer to her and keeps staring ahead of her. While I'm getting closer to her, her scent intensifies and it feels like I'm drowning in it. Wanting to take even more of it in, I dip my head down towards her neck and run my nose against the length of it, inhaling her scent deeply.

This brings Alice out of her reverie and she grabs hold of my shoulders with her hands and pushes me back. "Bella what the…? Did you just sniff me?" She asks a bit shocked.

I snap out of the Alice induced haze I was in and my eyes go wide. Oh my God! Did I really just sniff Alice's neck? I feel my cheeks grow warm and I'm pretty sure that I'm sporting a nice tomato-red colour right now. I glance at Alice's face and see a confused look upon it.

"I uhm…I didn't?" I offer weakly, knowing full well that it was an unconvincing and unnecessary lie.

"Oh I definitely think you did Bella." Alice tells me in an accusing voice, while she takes her hands off my shoulders. Eventhough we're having an awkward moment, I still instantly miss the feel of Alice's hands. Before I realise what I'm doing, I'm grabbing hold of one of her hands and I start nuzzling it with my cheek. I let out a soft purr and as the noise reaches my own ears, my eyes go wide once again and I quickly drop Alice's hand like it's a hot potato. I jump up form the couch and put some distance between me and Alice. I start pacing.

What the hell is wrong with me? Sniffing her neck and then nuzzling her hand like that. And then that purr! I was acting and sounding like an animal, like a freaking dog! I freeze mid-step and repeat those words again in my head. I am acting like a _dog_.

As that realisation hits me, I remember one of Sam's memories that I saw flash before my eyes just last night. And as it plays itself out in my head again, I think back to the events in the forest last night. I think back to the exact moment that I first saw Alice in my wolf form, when she was sitting in the clearing. I remember how I felt when I laid my eyes on her then and no doubt is left in me now. I know exactly why I'm acting this way.

I imprinted. I imprinted on Alice.

I look up to find her watching me intently. My eyes lock onto hers and I feel myself being pulled closer to her by an invisible magnetic force. My body keeps moving on its own account, until my mind suddenly catches up with what I'm doing. I have to force myself to take a step back again and I shake myself in an attempt to get my body under control.

"Bella what the hell is going on?" Alice asks me from her spot on the couch and I can hear that she is clearly confused by my odd behaviour.

"I… I don't…" I trail off there, not wanting to tell her the truth, but not knowing what to tell her instead. I rake my hand through my hair nervously and start my pacing again. When after a few moments I still haven't answered Alice's question, she stands up from the couch and approaches me. Her movement causes her scent to waft over to me and I feel myself slowly start losing control over my body again.

I manage to take a few steps back. "Please stay away from me right now." I manage to get out with difficulty while my mind is fighting its battle with my body.

Alice looks genuinely hurt by my words. "Why Bella? I don't understand what is going on with you. Just tell me what's wrong." She takes another step towards me and reaches out a hand.

My mind starts losing the battle it's fighting with my body and I know that I need to get away from Alice if I don't want to do anything to mess up any further. "I can't… deal with this right now." And then I bolt. I run out of the house and sprint into the forest, trying to put as much space in between me and Alice. Running away would have been the best way to do that, if it wouldn't be for her following me. I don't have to look behind me to know that she is, I can feel her. I pick up my speed until I can't go any faster. I duck under branches, I jump over rocks and fallen trees, just trying to outrun Alice and not fall on my face during the process. I don't know where exactly I'm running to, I just know that I need to get away.

Alice doesn't relent and she keeps following me. To my dismay I notice that she's gaining on me. Still I do not give up and keep trying to stay ahead of her. Still hoping that I might be able to shake her off. But that hope fades as I feel two strong arms encircle my waist from behind and I'm forcefully tackled onto the ground. I try to get up as soon as we come to a stop, but before I get the chance, Alice rolls me over onto my back and pins my arms above my head while she straddles my waist. Effectively rendering me unable to move much, although I do try. But I soon realise that my struggling doesn't have any effect and that Alice is not budging an inch.

Once I stop trying to free myself from Alice's grasp, my mind immediately registers the position that we're in. And my body reacts to what my mind registers. My body seems to be humming in all the places where Alice and I are in contact and pleasant tingles are coursing through me. I look up to find Alice's face just inches away from mine and my eyes stray towards her lips. And that does it, just that one look at her lips that I have been wanting to kiss from the first day I met her, makes me lose all control.

I lift my head upwards and smash my lips into Alice's. At first she is unresponsive, but as I tentatively start moving my lips against hers, she responds by doing the same with hers. Our lips start moving in synchronisation and I revel in the blissful feeling, but it soon leaves me wanting more. I ask for entrance with my tongue and Alice opens her mouth to grant it to me. I snake my tongue past her lips and meet hers inside her mouth. The touch sends a heavenly feeling coursing through me and seems to awaken something inside me. I begin to kiss Alice more forcefully, managing to free my hands and flip us over, momentarily breaking our kiss and reversing our positions. I lean back down and reconnect our lips, continuing to kiss Alice while pressing a knee firmly between her legs. Alice's back arches at the touch and she lets out a moan. Upon hearing it I stop my ministrations and freeze momentarily. Alice seems to have other plans though and puts one hand on the back of my head, trying to gently bring it down so my lips can meet hers once again. She's unable to move my head however so she puts a bit more force behind it. It's so tempting for me to give in and claim her lips with mine, but I just can't, not like this. Not when I feel like I'm not in control of what I'm doing.

Alice opens her eyes and looks at me in confusion. That's a look she has been giving me a lot today. "Why did you stop?" She asks while she takes her hand off of the back of my head.

I don't reply right away, I need to put some distance between me and Alice first. I stand upright and take a few steps back. Leaving Alice lying on the ground alone. She sits up so she can look at me better. She repeats her question.

"Bella, why did you stop?"

"Because it didn't feel right." And it really didn't. I mean, the kiss Alice and I just shared was amazing and it had felt absolutely wonderful. But the circumstances under which it had happened, those didn't feel right. Just like back at the house when I had sniffed her neck and had nuzzled her hand, I had lost all control just now. I wasn't used to not being in control and I didn't like it at all.

"I thought you liked me?" Alice utters weakly while she looks down at her hands and my heart just about breaks in two.

"I do like you Alice. Believe me, I really do." I want to get closer to Alice to console her and make her see that I really do like her, but I know that I probably can't do it without losing control.

"Then why didn't it feel right? Was it because of something I did?"

"No Alice, it has absolutely nothing to do with what you did. What you did felt great, it felt wonderful. It's what I did what's the problem here." I tell her.

"I don't understand. What exactly do you mean?"

I start pacing, thinking about how to tell her what's going on with me. I think it would be best to just start at the beginning. "Last night, when I was in my wolf form, I caught your scent in the forest. I followed it to the clearing and found you sitting there. When I saw you, it was like my mind just stopped working and my body took over. I wasn't in control of my actions and was going purely on instincts. Would I have been in my right mind, I would have never tackled you like that." I pause to take a breath and think the next part over, Alice stays quiet and patiently waits for me to continue.

"At the house, the same thing happened. I looked over at you and when your scent hit me, my body once again took over. I couldn't control what I was doing. Just now when you had me pinned to the ground, the exact same thing happened. I lost control again and I kissed you."

"So, you didn't want to kiss me?"

"No I did want to, I have been wanting to since I met you last Monday. The point is, that I have been able to resist that urge and to stop myself from doing so. But last night something happened that makes me unable to control my urges anymore." How do I go about this? "What do you know about the wolves?"

"What does this have to do with the wolves?"

"Please, just humour me for a minute."

"Alright. They're shape shifters. They have several different abilities like heightened senses of smell and hearing. They have a bad temper and a lack of control. They also smell awful." As an afterthought she adds "But not you though, you actually smelled good in your wolf form. Which is kind of odd."

"Have you ever heard of the term 'imprinting'?"

Alice seems to think for a minute. "No I don't believe I have. Is this another wolf thing?"

"Yes it is." Damn, this is going to be awkward. "Imprinting happens when a shape shifter finds their soulmate. The moment they find the one they are destined to be with the imprint takes place. The imprint also causes for strong emotional and sexual feelings towards the soulmate. Feelings that are sometimes really hard to control."

"What does this have to do with an…" Alice trails off and her eyes widen.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone, I got a lot of good reviews from you again. Thank you! I apologise for the cliffhanger in the last chapter. I always hate it when other people do it, but I just couldn't resist. At least you didn't have to wait too long to find out what happens next ;). **

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I think I have broken Alice. It has been a few minutes since either of us spoke and in that time, Alice has sat perfectly still with her eyes open wide and a stunned expression on her face. I have resumed my pacing, but have kept my eyes on Alice while doing so. I'm going crazy with this eerie silence that has descended upon us. There even seem to be no sounds coming from the forest. I think I would have preferred Alice yelling at me in anger or something over this silence. This is just unnerving. Pretty soon I can't take it anymore.

"Alice! Please just… say something. I'm going out of my mind here." I tell her in a desperate voice.

At the sound of my voice Alice finally reacts and she moves her head to look at my pacing form. "You imprinted on me?" She asks in a shaky voice. I just nod my head in the affirmative. "So I'm… I'm your soulmate?" Her voice is still shaky.

"Yes, I believe you are. No, I know you are. I can feel it."

She stands up slowly from the ground and I stop my pacing, just waiting to see what she will say or do next. Will she say that all of this is ridiculous and laugh at me, will she run away from me and never want to see me again? I don't think I could bear it if that would happen. Since I'm so absorbed in my own thought for a moment, I'm surprised when Alice's body crashes into me forcefully and she throws her arms around my neck. She tucks her head in under my chin and she lets out a sigh of contentment. I'm too stunned to do anything right away, not expecting her to do what she just did. So I just stand there with my arms hanging limp at my sides, trying to come to my senses. Alice then raises her head and directs a beaming smile at me. Which confuses me even more.

"How come you aren't freaked out by this?" I ask her incredulously.

She takes me by the hand and leads me towards a fallen tree, where she sits down and motions for me to do the same.

"I'm not freaked out by this, because I hoped that something like this would happen." She pauses and I just stare at her in bewilderment, waiting for her to explain. And surely, she doesn't disappoint. "Every vampire on this earth is believed to have a mate that they are destined to be with. When a vampire's mate is another vampire, they know right away when they meet that they are destined to be with each other."

"How do they know that?" I interrupt her.

"Because their mate is the only one who can make the beast in them disappear completely. So they can give their true selves to each other. When a vampire's mate is a human however, it's more difficult to tell if they're really soul mates." I wait for her to continue, but I can see in her eyes that she is reluctant to.

"How come it's more difficult to tell when there is a human involved?" Now she has to tell me.

"Because the beast inside us is drawn to the human's blood. A human's blood is so tantalising to us that it's sometimes hard to separate the bloodlust from our other feelings towards the human. Although we do feel that strong pull towards the human and we love it deeply, we never really know if our feelings are not just driven by the bloodlust. So we can never be totally sure." She pauses and locks her eyes onto mine. "When I met you in school last week, I felt this immediate pull towards you. My family and I always try to stay away from the humans and to not interact with them too much, in fear of losing control or them finding out about our secret. But I couldn't stay away from you, I had to talk to you and to get to know you. From the moment I laid my eyes on you in class, something has been tugging at my heart, something that I have never felt before. Every time I'm around you, the beast in me seems to quiet down, but it never completely disappears, because your blood sings to it. So I couldn't be sure. But now I am."

I let her words sink in and a happy feeling encompasses me. I feel a small smile starting to grow at the corners of my lips and it keeps growing and growing. The happy feeling also keeps growing stronger and I can feel it changing into something more. I can feel it changing into love. I love Alice, I'm in love with Alice. I have to let her know.

This time I am the one to throw my arms around Alice's neck and hug her close to me. While she lets her arms encircle my waist. I burry my nose in her neck and inhale her heavenly scent. And to my surprise I manage to stay in control this time. I position my mouth next to Alice's ear, and in the softest tone I can manage, I whisper three words.

"I love you." As soon as I say those words, Alice hugs me even tighter and after a few seconds she raises her head to look me straight in the eyes.

"I love you as well, my Bella." She leans forward slightly, but stops when our lips are almost touching, leaving the last move to me. I close the last remaining bit of space between us and bring our lips together. The kiss progresses much slower this time, and it's much softer. This time it's about showing our love to each other, the primal feelings of lust are being kept at bay. Alice trails her tongue gently over my lower lip and I open my mouth to grant her entrance. As soon as our tongues meet I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head behind my closed eyelids.

Alice moves one of her hands into my hair and places the other on the small of my back, where she starts rubbing soothing circles with it. We continue our kiss, only breaking contact momentarily when I need to come up for air. When our lips reconnect again, Alice makes a bold move with the hand that was rubbing circles on my back. She dips it beneath the waistband of the sweatpants I'm wearing and although I do like the way it feels, I feel myself lose control again. I lay one of my hands on Alice's neck, and press her to me more forcefully. The way I'm kissing her is becoming more fierce than loving and our tongues are fighting a battle of dominance. When I win that battle, it spurs me on even more and I boldly place one of my hands over Alice's left breast. She arches into my touch and lets out a delicious moan.

I realise what I'm doing and tear my mouth away from hers, while I take my hand from her breast. I had lost control again and I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit, it wasn't like me to lose it like that.

Alice must have seen the look of obvious distress on my face, because she tries to comfort me with her words. "Bella it's alright. It isn't your fault, I understand."

"No!" I tell her fiercely. "It isn't alright! I should be able to control myself when I'm with you. I was able to do that for a whole week, so I should be able to do it now. It's not OK for me to just grope you like that." I'm really mad at myself right now. I keep screwing up.

"I didn't mind that you did that, granted it might have been a bit soon, but I liked the feeling." She grins mischievously at her own words. "You shouldn't be upset with yourself for losing control. We all had to go through a period where we needed to learn how to keep the beast in us at bay. Vampires learn to control their selves after their newborn stage and I imagine it's the same with the wolves. In technical terms, you are just a puppy after all."

Alice's words make sense to me, but I still don't like the fact that I'm not in control all the time. "It's just hard. I want to be near you and show you that I love you and care about you, but I always turn it into something primal and lustful."

Alice cups my cheeks with her hands. "It's not your fault. In fact it was me that set you off, I should have been more careful with my actions. Just trust me when I tell you that I don't mind. But if it truly bothers you, then I'll try to consider my actions more carefully, until you feel like you can control yourself better."

"Thank you Alice." I tell her sincerely. Pleased by her understanding and willingness to help me.

Alice takes her hands of my cheeks and proceeds to take my right hand in her left one, intertwining our fingers. "Now, I think we should head home and get out of these clothes."

I cock one of my eyebrows at her and shoot a disapproving look her way.

"No, no! I didn't mean it like that." She says as she realises how that just sounded. "Our clothes are all dirty from rolling around on the floor, so we should put on clean ones. I really didn't mean anything else by it."

I smirk at her. "I know, I just wanted to see you squirm while you tried to explain. It looks cute."

"Oh very funny." She scowls at me. "I'll get you for that one, just wait and see."

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We had started walking home, but once we realised how deep we were into the forest, we decided to run home. We had started off at an even pace, but I decided to have some fun and our run home soon turned into a race. One that I thought I was winning, until I decided to look over my shoulder and didn't notice the tree root sticking out from the ground. So of course I tripped over it and almost smacked head first into a tree, but Alice was able to catch me just before I hit it.

Now that Alice has let go of me, she starts shaking with laughter and pretty soon she can't hold it in anymore. She starts laughing out loud, doubling over and clutching at her sides. I just stand in front of her, with my hands on my hips, full on scowling at her.

When she notices the look on my face, she stands upright and tries to hold back her laughter. "I guess that vampire grace is not one of the abilities that you got from us?" And she bursts out into laughter again.

"That wasn't funny Alice!" I half yell at her. I'm not mad at her for laughing at me, not really. I'm just mad at myself for making myself look like an idiot in front of Alice. She keeps on laughing and I just turn around and continue running home, ignoring Alice calling after me. When I get home I sit down at the kitchen table with my arms crossed, sulking. After a few seconds I hear the backdoor close and Alice sits down on the chair opposite mine.

"I'm sorry." She says after a minute or so of silence. "It didn't mean to upset you by laughing at you." I can hear the regret in her voice and I instantly feel guilty for my behaviour towards her.

"No," I sigh, "I should be the one apologising here, not you. I'm sorry for yelling at you like that and running off. You had every right to laugh, if you would have tripped I would have probably done the same thing.

"I still shouldn't have laughed at you, you could've been hurt."

"No that wouldn't have happened. I've got that vampire strength, remember? The only thing that got hurt was my pride." I pause and unfold my arms, letting my fingers play with the rim of the table cloth. "I just don't like looking like an ass in front of you."

"That's understandable, but everyone has their clumsy moments, even I have them."

I raise both my eyebrows as I look at her. "Yeah right, you're grace personified. There is no way that you would ever do something clumsy. But let's just forget about this alright? I overreacted and I'm sorry for that."

"OK, I'll drop it. And apology accepted."

We both fall silent for a moment until Alice speaks up again. "I think I should head home. I'm in desperate need of a shower and some clean clothes." She gets up from the kitchen table and walks out into the backyard. I follow her, but stop in the doorway.

"Do you want me to come pick you up before school tomorrow?" She asks me.

Shit! School! I mentally slap myself for forgetting about school today, they must be wondering why I'm not in. Well, I guess I'll just have to make up an excuse or something.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Although I enjoyed skipping with you today."

"I did as well, but now I'm really going to go. Bye Bella." She says and she starts walking towards the forest.

"Wait!" I call after her. She stops and I walk up to her. "No goodbye kiss?" I ask her slyly. Then I touch my lips to hers and we share an intimate kiss, one that leaves me wanting more when we part.

"Bye Alice." She gives me a quick kiss on my forehead and then she disappears into the forest, leaving me standing in my backyard with a goofy smile plastered on my face.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone. Thanks for the positive reviews on the last chapters. In the summary for the story I said that drama and danger were to quickly ensue after Bella's arrival. We have seen a bit of drama, but no danger yet. I can promise you that after this chapter, the danger will start and the 'real story' will begin. I just had to get some stuff out of the way first. **

**In the meantime, enjoy chapter 11 and please leave me a review. They are always appreciated ;)**

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Alice pulls her flashy car into the school parking lot and cuts the engine. On the way to school we had sat in comfortable silence, both lost in our own thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?" Alice asks me.

"I'm just thinking about what to tell the lady at the administration office about where I was yesterday. I'm not really in the mood for detention for skipping a day." I frown at the thought of being stuck in a classroom after school when I could be spending that time with Alice.

"You don't have to worry about that. Carlisle has written a doctor's note for the both of us. Apparently, we both got food poisoning on Saturday and of course we needed our rest to get better." She grins a bit at the words food poisoning.

"I guess that's the convenience of having a doctor as your dad. Tell Carlisle thanks for me."

We fall into a comfortable silence again. This time it's me who interrupts it.

"What have you been thinking about? I'm not used to you being this quiet." I inquire.

"I have been thinking about school today, and how we are going to behave around each other after, you know, yesterday. I mean, I'm fine with showing people that we're together, but I don't know if you're comfortable with that." Alice looks out of the windshield and patiently waits for my answer.

Do I want everyone to know that I'm with Alice? Hell yeah, of course I do. I don't care about what people will say, or what they will do when they see us together. All that I care about is being with Alice, no matter where we are.

I take Alice's hand in mine before I answer her. "Of course I'm comfortable with people knowing that we're together. I don't care about what they will say or think about us. I'm proud of the fact that I'm with you and you're with me, nothing anybody says will ever change that. And besides, I'm dating the hottest girl in school, so I want to show you off." I grin as I say this last bit.

"I knew it, you just want me for my body." Alice says jokingly.

I chuckle. "I have to admit, that is a big part of it." I get a bit more serious now and put my free hand over her heart. "But the most important reason why I wanted you, is right here."

She smiles a soft smile at me. "If it was still beating, it would be beating just for you."

We're both smiling now, until Alice starts chuckling and my shoulders start to shake from my held in laughter. One look at the forming grin on Alice's features and I start laughing out loud, Alice quickly follows. I bend forward in my seat from laughing and Alice slams her head into the headrest of her seat. When we calm down a bit we look at each other.

"We are such saps!" Alice tells me, still chuckling as she says it.

I wipe away a tear. "Yes we absolutely are." I pause. "But I meant it though, it just wasn't supposed to look and sound like something out off a bad romantic comedy or something."

This time it was Alice who took my hand in hers. "I meant it too." Then she leans forward and she captures my lips with hers. Giving me a sweet and tender kiss. All too soon she breaks off the contact, but I can see that she didn't want to. I realise that she was holding herself back, in case it got too much for me to handle again. I gently squeeze her hand.

"I'm sorry Alice, I wi-…"

Before I can say anything else, she places her index finger on my lips, effectively silencing me. "Don't apologise Bella, it isn't your fault and I know this is hard for you as well. We both want more, but as you yourself pointed out to me yesterday, it isn't right when you're not in control. I want to be with you, the real you, not the you who is controlled by the wolf instincts."

I sigh and cast my eyes downward. "I know. I don't get why I'm having so much trouble controlling the wolf instincts though. I didn't have any trouble controlling the vampire instincts."

Alice thinks about that for a minute. "I don't know why that is either. Why don't you come home with me after school and you can ask Carlisle about it. I know that he has been wanting to ask you some more questions as well."

"I think I will. Now, I think we better head to English Literature if we don't want to be late." I get out of the car and close the door behind me. I start walking towards the school building and immediately Alice falls into step besides me. She takes my hand in hers again and intertwines our fingers. None of the kids we come across give us odd looks or say anything about it, but I guess they are already used to seeing Alice and me holding hands because we had been holding hands since last week. We arrive at our class and as we sit down, the bell rings. Mr. Hartley, the teacher, tells us that he has a stack of papers to grade and that we are to work on our assignments. So Alice and I spend first period doing just that, since we hadn't started on it yet.

After first period I make my way to Chemistry. When I enter the classroom I see that Emmett is already seated. The moment he notices me, a big grin forms on his face. I sit down in my seat and he immediately slaps my back. Would I have not had vampire strength, I'm pretty sure he would have propelled me out of my seat.

"So Bella," That shit eating grin is still present on his face. "I heard about the good news. You and Alice are soul mates huh."

"Yes Emmett, that we are." I affirm as I get out my Chemistry books.

"Congratulations and welcome to the family." He says sincerely.

"Thank you." I tell him just as sincerely.

"So, have Alice and you christened your new found partnership already?" He waggles his eyebrows suggestively and the grin is back. Would Rosalie have been here, she would have smacked him on the back of his head right now.

"Wouldn't you like to know." I tell him in a suggestive tone, not really giving him an answer to his question.

"Actually, I would like to watch." His grin becomes even wider as he says this.

Luckily I don't have to respond to that, because Ms. Elliott decides to start her lesson at this point. We're watching a film today that will explain an experiment we have to do ourselves and we're supposed to take notes. My intentions were to do just that, but as soon as the lights went off and the film started, all my thoughts were centred on Alice. Like they had been since I realised that I had imprinted on her.

No matter where I am or what I'm doing, Alice is always on the forefront of my mind. It seems like my whole world suddenly revolves around her and it hurts to be away from her for more than a couple of hours.

I like the feeling of being in love, but this whole situation also scares me a bit. Never before have I felt like this about someone, this is new for me, it's unknown territory. What if I screw things up? I don't think I could stand it to have Alice leave me. That thought actually makes me shudder.

Emmett's voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Bella?"

"Hmm… what?" I reply distractedly.

"Class is over, didn't you hear the bell?"

Really? Class was already over? I look around me and notice that the classroom is nearly empty, except for Ms. Elliott and a student she is talking to.

"I guess I didn't. I guess I was just to lost in my thoughts."

Emmett chuckles. "Thoughts about Alice I presume." He waggles his eyebrows.

Please do not go there again! "Get your mind out of the gutter Emmett, it wasn't anything like that." I get up out of my seat, pick up my books and start making my way out of the classroom. "I'll see you at lunch."

I round the corner without really paying attention to my surroundings and I walk straight into someone. Because of my vampire strength, I hardly feel a thing and remain standing, but the other person is not as lucky as me. I look down to see who is sprawled on the floor and find myself looking at…

Mike Newton.

Great, just my luck. Now I have to talk to the little creep. Even though I'm not so fond of Mike, I remember my manners and offer my hand to him to help him up. Once he's standing again he doesn't immediately let go however, instead he holds onto my hand. I do not want to be in physical contact with longer than is necessary so I pull my hand from his grasp.

"Sorry Mike. I didn't see you there."

"That's OK Bella, I should have been paying more attention. Are you alright?" He asks me while checking me over for apparent 'injuries'. I'm pretty sure he's just checking me out for kicks, little pervert.

"I think I should be asking you that question. After all, you were the one that fell on your ass." His cheeks redden and he is clearly embarrassed.

"No, no, I'm uh… I'm fine."

"Great. I really have to go now, I'm already late for class." I make my way past him but before I can get too far he calls after me.

"Bella! Hold up a second." He approaches me and I can tell by the look on his face that he is nervous about something. "Would you maybe uhm, like to hang out this weekend? We could go see a movie or something, maybe grab some dinner before."

Hell no! I'm not going anywhere with that creep. It's bad enough that I already have to tolerate his presence at school. I decide to let him down gently, which is more then he deserves in my opinion.

"I'm sorry Mike, I already have plans this weekend. I'm heading to Seattle to visit my parents so I'll be gone the whole weekend." He looks genuinely sad but I really don't give a shit. "I'm going to go to class now, bye Mike."

He responds with a weak 'bye' himself, but I just keep on walking towards History. When I arrive at my History class, I quickly explain to Mr. Wright what happened with Mike and then I sit down next to Alice. She squeezes my hand under the table and directs a sweet smile at me. I feel all the annoyance still residing in me after my run in with Mike dissolve in an instant. I smile back at her but don't the time to do anything else, because Mr Wright starts his lecture. And because this is one of my favourite subjects, I can't help but to take notes and to pay attention to what he's saying.

When the bell rings to signal the end of the class, I turn my attention back to Alice. But before I can say anything, she does. "You go ask your question about the paper and I'll see you in the cafeteria. I'll get you your lunch so you don't have to stand in line."

"Thanks Alice, I'll see you in a bit."

As Alice walks out of the classroom, I make my way over to Mr. Wright to ask him for some more specifications on the paper we have to write. After he has answered my questions I quickly make my way to the cafeteria, eager to see Alice and to talk to her. My eyebrows lift in surprise when I don't see her sitting at our usual table yet and I scan the room for her. She standing at the end of the food line talking to Mike Newton. A scowl immediately forms on my face and I begin to walk over towards the two of them. When I'm halfway there, I see Mike putting his hand on Alice's arm.

I feel anger bubbling up inside me. How dare that creep touch my Alice! There is only one person allowed to touch her and that person is me! He's going to lose that hand if he doesn't remove it from her arm immediately! As soon as I reach Alice, I put my arm around her waist and I snarl at Mike. He looks at me with a shocked expression, while Alice looks at me in concern.

"Get away from Alice!" I tell Mike through clenched teeth.

He keeps standing in the same spot and I take a step towards him, clenching my fist at my side. "I said, GET AWAY!" This time I put a bit more force behind my words. The anger inside me is still growing and I can feel that I'm starting to lose control over it, I'm actually shaking from the intensity of it. I swear that if that creep doesn't go away in the next few seconds, he is going to lose a vital body part or two.

"Bella…" Alice's voice reaches my ears but I don't pay any attention to it, instead I keep all my focus on Mike.

"Bella, we were only talking." This time she puts one of her hands on my shoulders and she lays the other against my cheek, turning my head towards her so she can look me in the eyes. I keep mine fixed on Mike however, so she doesn't succeed at first. "Bella look at me. Look at me!" I finally relent and I do as she says. Suddenly a wave of calm enters me and I relax a bit. From the corner of my eye I can see Jasper approaching together with Edward. Jasper takes a stand next to me and keeps hitting me with wave after wave of calm. Edward tells Mike to leave and at last he takes the hint and quickly scurries away.

"Are you alright?" Alice inquires worriedly.

"No! Why was he touching you? He has no right to do so, you're my mate!" An idea appears in my head on how to make it clear to everyone present here to show once and for all who Alice belongs to. As I decide what to do Alice's eyes glaze over for a moment, no doubt seeing what is about to happen. Her eyes widen. "Bella I don't think that's such a…" The rest of her words get muffled as I claim her lips with my own. I embrace her with both my arms and when I push my tongue inside her mouth, her body goes limp. As I end the kiss with a final peck to her lips, she seems to come back to her senses, although she still looks a bit dazed.

"I think you could both use some fresh air." Edward says as he motions with his head towards the door. I grab hold of one of Alice's hands and guide her to the exit of the cafeteria. Leaving a mass of surprised and bewildered students who watched the whole display behind.


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter 12. It's a lot longer than the other chapters are, but it didn't feel right to cut this off at any point. I'm sure you guys won't mind. Please leave me a REVIEW.**

* * *

As we leave the school grounds and go into the forest, I can feel Jasper's wave of calm rapidly starting to wear off. I grip Alice's hand even tighter in my own, because I feel like she's the only thing keeping me grounded right now. She hasn't said anything since before the kiss and I glance at her. Her eyes are unfocused and it looks like she's still a little out of it. We walk into a small clearing and that's were I stop walking. I just stand still, trying to calm down the raging anger inside me left from the incident with Mike, while I keep holding onto Alice's hand.

"Bella! What the hell was that in there?" She has finally come back to her senses. And of course she has to start scolding me. "Why did you behave like that? First you almost bite Mike's head off and then you… you practically jump me in the middle of the cafeteria. What were you thinking?"

Her words aren't doing anything to calm me down, I did not need to hear that creeps name again. I grind my teeth together in anger. "He was touching you!" I practically hiss. "He doesn't get to touch you like that, only I do!" Now I'm yelling. "You're my mate! You're mine!"

I let go of Alice's hand and take a step back from her as I feel my anger turn into rage. I start shaking uncontrollably and it's taking everything within me to not give in to that rage and to lash out. I try to overcome it, but it's stronger then I am. Alice notices my shaking and the angry look on her face changes into a worried one. She reaches out for me but I take another step back. She won't have any of that and she grabs onto my arms with her hands, preventing me from getting further away from her. Her hands have a calming effect on me, eventhough it's only a minor one.

"Bella what's wrong? You're shaking." Alice says in a worried tone. She starts rubbing her hands up and down my arms. "Please talk to me."

"I don't know. I'm just so angry right now. There is this rage inside of me that won't go away. I feel like I want to hurt someone." Alice cups my cheeks in her hands.

"No, you don't want that. You can fight against it. I know you can." I look into Alice's eyes and I immediately feel a bit more in control. She shifts her hands from my cheeks to my waist and hugs me to her tightly. "Fight it Bella, I know you can." I close my eyes and take in the feeling of Alice's body pressing against mine. My body stops shaking but the rage is still there. I mentally tell myself that Alice is here with me. She's my mate, and she's here. She's taking care of me and she loves me. Finally I feel the rage subside and the tenseness leaves my body. I throw my arms around Alice's neck and burry my face in her hair. A sob escapes me and soon the tears follow.

"Shh Bella, it's alright. I'm here. You're alright." She whispers in my ear over and over again, until I finally feel the tears stop coming. She leans back a bit so she can look me in the eye. She still looks really worried. But I guess I would be as well if I were in her shoes right now.

"Alice… What's going on with me?" I ask her in a desperate tone, hoping that she can give me an answer, although I'm fairly certain that she can't.

"I don't know." Her eyes glaze over and she falls silent. She's having a vision. When she comes out of it I open my mouth to ask her what she just saw, but she cuts me off. "That can wait. First I think we should get you home and have a talk with Carlisle. Maybe he knows what is happening. OK?"

I nod my head in affirmation and the next thing I know, Alice places one of her hands around my shoulders and one under my knees, effectively lifting me up bridal style. I don't argue with being carried as she starts walking back towards the school parking lot. Instead I just cling to her with all my might.

* * *

I'm sitting on the couch in the Cullen's living room staring straight ahead, while Alice is on the phone with Carlisle. Esme comes walking out of the kitchen and sets a glass of water on the table in front of me. She takes a seat next to me on the couch and places a comforting hand on my shoulder. She squeezes it gently.

"Oh honey, are you sure you're alright?" She inquires like the mother she is. "You look a little pale."

I smile a what I hope is a reassuring smile at her. "I'm fine, really. I'm just a bit exhausted after what happened." I cast my gaze down to the floor, instantly feeling guilty about the whole incident.

Esme puts her hand under chin and lifts my head up. "Honey, don't feel guilty about this. You probably couldn't help what happened today, so don't beat yourself up over it." She pulls me into her body and I let her cradle me in her arms like I were her own child. I wish Renee was here now, although Esme is a great substitute.

Alice walks into the living room, putting her phone back in her pocket. She sits down on the other side of me and as Esme relinquishes her hold on me, Alice takes over from her. She kisses the top of my head and then nuzzles my hair.

"Carlisle said he's going to be here in four hours. He has a surgery scheduled so he can't immediately leave." I just nod my head in response. "I think it would be best if you lied down for a little while." I nod my head again and Alice helps me up off the couch. She takes one of my hands in hers and leads me up the stairs to her bedroom.

I lie down on her bed and turn onto my side, curling my body into a little ball. Alice remains standing by the bed for a minute, before she bends down and places a soft kiss on my forehead. Then she stands upright again and turns to leave.

"Where are you going?" I ask her confused. "I don't want you to leave. Please stay with me." Now I'm sounding desperate.

"I will stay if that's what you want." She plops down on the big blue beanbag opposite from the bed.

I furrow my brow and shift on the bed so that my elbow is supporting my weight while I sit up to look over at Alice. "Could you… could you please come over here. I really need you to hold me right now." My voice sounds small to me as I make my request.

She gets up and wordlessly makes her way over the bed, where she proceeds to lie down behind me. I shift to my previous position again and Alice moves so that her smaller body is cradling mine from behind. She puts one of her arms around my waist and she snakes the other under my neck. She buries her nose in my hair and she inhales deeply once.

"Is this alright?" She quietly asks me.

"Yeah, it's perfect." I put one of my arms over the one she has put around my waist. Then I take her hand in mine and intertwine our fingers. "I love you Alice." I whisper almost inaudibly, but I know that she can hear me.

"I love you as well, my Bella." This is the last thing I hear before I succumb to sleep.

* * *

As I wake up, I immediately notice that Alice isn't in the room with me anymore. I sit up and glance at the window, it's getting dark outside. I furrow my brow in confusion and look at the clock on Alice's bedside table. I see that it's already past 9 PM. I slept over 8 hours. That whole ordeal earlier today had really worn me out. Suddenly the smell of food enters my nostrils and I quickly get out of the bed. I follow the smell of food out of Alice's bedroom and down the hallway, but I get distracted when I hear Alice's and Carlisle's voices. Quietly, I make my way towards the door of Carlisle's office and I listen in on the conversation that's going on inside the room.

"On the phone you also mentioned a vision you got this afternoon?"

"Yes. When Bella and I were about to return home, I got a vision." Alice pauses. "It involved the Volturi." I can hear the worry in her voice and I lean a bit closer to the door in anticipation of what she's going to say next.

"A group of Volturi guards are here, they will arrive in Seattle in about a week. They have some business to take care of first. After that they will go to Seattle."

"Did you see why they are going to Seattle?" Carlisle asks.

"I saw a military installation…" I gasp at this and Alice's voice quiets down. Before I have the chance to make my retreat, the door to Carlisle's office opens and Alice is standing before me. I drop my eyes to the ground, ashamed of the fact that I had been eavesdropping.

"I'm sorry." I say quickly. "I heard you two talking and I just…" I trail off there, not knowing what to say.

"It's alright Bella," Carlisle says, "you were meant to be included in this conversation, but Alice thought it would be best to let you get your rest. Seeing as you're awake you might as well come in and take part." His voice is kind, so I know that I'm forgiven for my eavesdropping.

Alice steps aside and lets me enter. She then closes the door and takes a seat in one of the two leather backed chairs in front of Carlisle's mahogany desk. I follow her lead and sit down in the other chair.

"Alice? Would you like to continue?"

Alice takes in an unnecessary breath and then continues relaying her vision to Carlisle and me. "As I was saying, I saw a military installation just outside Seattle, besides that I only caught a glimpse of a blonde haired vampire. I didn't see anything else."

Blonde haired vampire? She's talking about James. "The vampire, I know who he is." Carlisle and Alice both turn their attention on me. "His name is James. He's one of the soldiers from the Unseen. He's also a friend of mine."

"Do you know what the Volturi could want from him?" Carlisle asks me.

"I'm not certain, but I have an idea. James was sent on a reconnaissance mission to Italy about two months back. He was supposed to get data on the Volturi and if possible, infiltrate them. But his mission was cut short when his intentions got discovered by one of the Volturi guardsmen. I'm guessing they're here now to deal with James." As this realisation hits me, I feel panic rising in me. Alice must have noticed, because she takes hold of my hand and rubs her thumb on the back of it.

"I think you might be right about that. But there could be something more behind it." Carlisle seems to think for a minute. "They wouldn't send a whole group of guards here to take care of one vampire, there must be an ulterior motive." He pauses. "What does your organisation know about the Volturi?"

"We only have the basic information. We know that the Volturi are located in Volterra, Italy. We know who the leaders are and we know about the basic command structure." I dig into my memory to see if I've forgotten anything, but I come up empty. "That's about all we know. James got sent there to find out more, to determine what their purpose is and if they're a threat to mankind. I don't know what he discovered during his time there, because the report of his mission hasn't been released yet by our superior officers. But from what James has told me, he didn't get much information."

"The Volturi are very secretive, just like in the army, everything is on a need to know basis. Even the members of the guard are in the dark about a lot of things that are going on. Only Aro, Marcus and Caius have full knowledge."

"How do you know all this about them? You just said they were secretive, yet you seem to know a lot about them." I inquire.

"I spend an amount of time living with the Volturi. I'm still in contact with Aro every once in a while." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "I would like to meet with your commanding officer, with your father. I can tell him what he needs to know about the Volturi and in exchange I would like to be granted permission to take a look at the research that they are conducting at the base. Do you think he would agree with this?"

I don't have to think about my answer, knowing my father he will jump at the chance to gather more information about the Volturi. Seeing as how James' mission failed, this is the only way we will get the information we need.

"I'm sure he will agree to that. I can call him right now if you want and you can arrange everything yourselves." Carlisle nods in affirmation and gestures towards the phone. I dial my dad's number and wait patiently for him to pick up. After the fourth ring he does.

"Swan Residence." he says in his gruff voice.

"Dad, it's me."

"Bella, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon again." He says in a confused but delighted voice.

"This is sort of a business call dad, and I think you are going to find this very interesting."

* * *

Alice and I excuse ourselves form Carlisle's office as he's talking with my dad on the phone. As we step into the hallway, the smell of the food I was following earlier fills my nostrils again. I close my eyes and breathe in deep through my nose.

"You must be really enjoying the smell of that, because the only time I saw you do that before was when you were sniffing my pillow yesterday." Alice says teasingly.

I feel a blush starting to spread through my cheeks and Alice giggles. She plants a kiss on each of my cheeks before she starts descending the stairs. "Come on, Esme is in the kitchen and I think she's finished making whatever it is that seems to smell so delicious to you."

I follow Alice down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Esme is just putting the finishing touches on a plate of mushroom ravioli. Emmett is standing next to her, cutting some garlic bread. Rosalie is sitting at the bar, throwing vegetables together in a bowl with a disgusted look on her face. I quietly laugh at her and that draws the attention of everyone in the kitchen to me.

"Oh Bella! I see that you're finally awake." Esme exclaims. "I was about to send Rosalie upstairs to come and get you." She puts the plate she's holding down on the bar and gestures for me to take a seat. "I took the liberty of cooking for you. I hope that mushroom ravioli is alright, Emmett said you like it." I eye the plate and nod a response to Esme, before I just about sprint the small distance to the bar and take a seat. I pick up the fork that is lying next to the plate and immediately dig into the food. I close my eyes at the heavenly taste and I let out a small moan.

I blush in embarrassment, while Esme just directs a beaming smile at me. Emmett sniggers while Rosalie just looks at me disgusted.

"How can you humans eat stuff like that? It looks and smell disgusting!" She says while scrunching up her nose.

"Rosalie! Remember your manners young lady!" Esme scolds her and Rosalie stalks off with a huff. Emmett quickly follows after her. Damn that boy is really whipped.

"And he's not the only one." Edward says chuckling while he enters the kitchen. Damn, I don't have my wall up! I try to glare at him but I fail in my attempt. After the conversation in the living room yesterday, and the way he and Jasper helped me today, I cannot bring myself to dislike him anymore. He is a good guy, eventhough we started off on the wrong foot I can see that now.

"He's not the only one what?" Alice asks from her place in the doorway. I realise that she hasn't moved since we entered the kitchen, she has just stood there watching me the whole time. Edward is about to reply to her question but I look at him warningly. _Don't you dare!_

He holds up his hands in surrender and turns his attention back to Alice.

"Sorry Alice, but I like my head attached my neck." He drops his hands back to his sides and hands me the garlic bread that is till sitting on the kitchen counter. "Here, I think it goes with your meal." I glance down at my momentarily forgotten food and then dig in again. Alice and Edward just watch me while I wolf down everything that's on the plate. I am tempted to lick the plate clean, but I decide against it.

Esme, who had been doing the dishes while I ate, turns around and hands me a second plate of mushroom ravioli. I say a quick thanks and start eating again. Alice starts giggling all of a sudden. I look up at her, my mouth full with food. "It looks like you're inhaling the stuff, please try and remember to chew every once in a while." Edward and Esme chuckle at her joke while I just turn crimson. I realise that I kind of have been eating like a pig, barely taking time to breath between bites. I swallow before I reply, at least I haven't forgotten all of my manners yet.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really hungry and this tastes delicious. I didn't know you could cook Esme?"

"Well thank you Bella, I'm delighted to hear that my first attempt at cooking turned out well." She directs another one of her beaming smiles at me.

"First attempt? If I hadn't known you I could have sworn you were a professional chef." I tell her sincerely.

Just then, Carlisle walks into the kitchen. Alice immediately asks him the question that both of us want to know the answer to.

"Did he agree to your proposal?"

"Yes he did. We're driving up to Seattle first thing in the morning." He addresses his attention to me. "He expects you to accompany me and Alice."

"I get to come as well?" Alice asks surprised.

"Yes, Bella's mother requested for you to come along as well. She wants very much to meet the girl that has caught the interest of her daughter." I groan as he says that. My mother can be so embarrassing at times.

"How are we going to clear this with the school?" Esme inquires. "We can just say that our family is on a camping trip, but that would only be an excuse for Alice, not for Bella."

"I have already taken care of that. I called the school right after I concluded my phone call with Bella's father. Bella and Alice had to leave school early today, because they were showing symptoms of their food poisoning again. Apparently, we didn't get rid off it completely and it returned. So they will have to stay in the hospital for a few days again. I already made up the false paperwork that is needed." As Carlisle concludes his explanation I just grin at him, but then I remember I still have to talk to him about another matter.

"I'm glad that everything is settled, but there is still something I would like to discuss with you as soon as possible." I tell him seriously.

"Ah yes, Alice already filled me in while I talked to her on the phone this afternoon. Just come to my office when you are finished here." He's about to walk out of the kitchen when he turns back and directs his next words at Alice. "I would like you to be present as well Alice." Alice just nods in affirmation.

Even if Carlisle hadn't just asked Alice to be present as well, I knew she would have been either way. It's important to me that not only I know what's going on with me, but that she knows as well. This concerns her too and besides that I could just really use her support, no matter what Carlisle has to tell me.

* * *

I have just finished my meal and hand my empty plate back to Esme. I reach for a towel to help her with the dishes, but she won't have any of that.

"But I want to help you Esme. You cooked for me, so I want to do something in return." I practically whine.

"Nonsense Bella. I don't expect anything in return, and besides, you're supposed to go see my husband now." She says to me.

She's right, I still have to talk to Carlisle. I realise that I'm actually trying to put off that conversation. After what happened today with Mike and in the forest, I'm just about positive that he isn't going to tell me anything good. I sigh and walk over to where Alice is still standing. At first I had found it weird, having her standing there just watching me, but the weirdness had soon worn off. I'm still wondering why she had looked at me the whole time from her position in the doorway. I decide to just ask her about it.

Her eyes glaze over momentarily and I just for her vision to play out, knowing she saw me asking my question. When she snaps out of it she replies to my unvoiced question. "I just find it very calming to watch you, it doesn't matter what you are doing. It gives me a feeling of serenity. But I have to say that watching you sleep is not just calming, but amusing as well. Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" She asks me with a trace of humour in her voice.

I tense up in response. Shit! What did I say? "Yeah, my mother has commented on that a few times before. What did I say?" I ask hesitantly.

"You didn't say a lot, although you did call out my name a few times." I blush as she says this. Lately, all my dreams had been about Alice and not all of them had been PG. I'm just happy that I didn't say anything embarrassing.

We have reached Carlisle's office door and I pause in front of it. Alice notices my hesitation and smiles at me reassuringly. "Relax Bella, whatever it is he has to say, I doubt it will be anything bad. And even if it is, we will get through it together." Her words comfort me, but only a little bit. I take in a deep breath and knock on the door.

"Come in." Carlisle calls from inside his office.

Alice and I both enter and we sit down in the leather backed chairs again. I glance at Carlisle nervously and he smiles kindly at me. "There is no reason to be nervous or worried Bella, I think I have an explanation for your recent behaviour, but I would like to hear your side of the story first. Just begin at the start."

"While I was in my wolf form, I saw Alice and I imprinted on her, that's when it began. When she ran away from me I couldn't control my actions and I chased after her. Eventually I tackled her to the ground, which I didn't plan on doing either. It just seemed like my body wasn't listening to my brain anymore. The next incident took place yesterday, after Alice drove me home. We were sitting on the couch in my living room, and suddenly I'm leaning over and sniffing her neck. The next thing I know I'm nuzzling her hand. Again I had no control over what I was doing." I pause, feeling embarrassed about the next thing I'm going to tell Carlisle.

"I ran away and into the forest trying to get away so I wouldn't do anything stupid, but Alice followed me and eventually caught up with me. She tackled me and pinned me to the ground, to prevent me from running away again. I… I kissed her then, but it soon turned into something more as I lost control over my actions again. My behaviour became more primal… more lustful. The exact same thing happened again when we kissed a second time." I'm full on blushing now, but I'm determined to continue with relaying everything that happened to Carlisle.

"I think I know why I acted the way I did during those instances, but what happened today with Mike Newton", disdain is evident in my voice as I say his name, "that was of a whole other level. When I saw him touch Alice I just couldn't think straight anymore. All I could think about was hurting him and it took everything in me to not give into that urge. Even Alice's word couldn't calm me down. Suddenly I'm grabbing hold of Alice and I'm kissing her passionately in front of nearly to whole student body. Then Edward and Jasper came to try and fix the situation and Alice and I left the school building. I took off into the forest dragging her behind me, all the while trying to keep myself from going back and ripping off Newton's head."

I shudder visibly as I remember what happened next. "When Alice scolded me about my behaviour in the cafeteria and mentioned his named, I exclaimed that she was mine and that no one else had the right to touch her. My anger quickly turned into rage then and my body began shaking visibly. I just wanted to lash out at someone. With Alice's help I eventually managed to calm down." I leave out the bit of me sobbing and crying in Alice's arms.

Carlisle hadn't said a word while I relayed everything to him, he had only nodded every once in a while. Now he has a thoughtful look on his face. After a few moments he speaks. "I think I can explain what happened today with Mike and in those other instances as well, but I would like to know if you have a theory on it as well."

It's Alice who speaks up now. "Well, we have a theory about the…", she glances in my direction, "sexual incidents. When a wolf imprints on another person, they have strong emotional and sexual feelings towards that person. Even in their human form, it's difficult for the wolves to control the urges that accompany those feelings. The younger the wolves are, the less control they have over their actions. Bella has only had her wolf abilities for two days now, so she's still learning to get control over her feelings and urges."

"Yes, yes, you are absolutely correct in your theory. How did you come up with that?" Carlisle asks clearly interested.

This time I am the one who replies to his question. "I used Sam's memories to find out more about the imprinting and the side affects of it."

"Did you try to find a memory that corresponds with what happened today?"

"No it actually hadn't crossed my mind. I can try to do it now however." I tell Carlisle.

"I think that would help you to understand what happened today a bit better."

I close my eyes and access Sam's memories. I filter through them quickly until I reach one that seems to be the kind of memory that I need right now. I let it play out in my mind. Sam is standing in front of Emily, his imprint, and he's shaking visibly, just like I was this afternoon. He has a look of pure rage on his face and I can faintly feel what he's feeling in that moment. Suddenly he phases into his wolf form and in his rage he lashes out at Emily, who was just unfortunate enough to be standing close to him while he phased. I gasp as I see this happening. I quickly close off the memory and open my eyes, looking at Alice guiltily.

She looks at me worried. "What is it? What did you see?"

I tell them what I just saw, with my gaze cast downwards, avoiding Alice's eyes. What happened with Sam and Emily could have easily happened this afternoon with Alice and me. It wouldn't have mattered that she's a vampire. I know full well that I could have hurt her in my wolf form.

Alice must know what I'm thinking, because she immediately tries to comfort me. "That didn't happen to us Bella. You managed to control it, you didn't hurt me. You were stronger than it and you fought it."

"But it could have happened Alice!" I exclaim. "You don't know how close I was to phasing into my wolf form! I would have hurt you Alice!"

"But you didn't! And that's the whole point here." Alice counters. "You were strong enough to fight it, you were strong enough to beat the wolf. Even Sam, the Alpha of the pack didn't have that amount of control, but you did. You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Don't you see that?"

"Alice is right," Carlisle jumps in, "I'm not exactly an expert on the wolves, but I do know that they have a volatile temper and that they sometimes cannot control it. You are just two days old and still a puppy, and you managed to control yourself. That truly is a remarkable accomplishment."

Their words are making me feel slightly better, but I'm still uncomfortable with the fact that had I lost control, I would have hurt my Alice. I decide not to dwell on it any longer for the time being.

"Why did I get so angry in the first place? It was just like Alice told me, Mike was merely touching her arm."

"That is pretty easily explained. Actually, I'm surprised that Alice didn't think of it herself." Carlisle says as he looks at Alice.

"The wolf in you has natural instincts that are closely related to animal instincts. Vampires have these instincts as well. When you saw Mike touching Alice's arm, you saw a potential rival touching your mate's arm. Your reaction was hostile, which is perfectly normal. You wanted to make clear to him that Alice is your mate and that he should stay away from her. When he didn't walk off at first, you decided to show him that she belongs to you by claiming her. In your case you did that with a kiss. Now everyone know that she's yours and I don't think anyone is foolish enough to try and steal her away from you after today."

"Even if they did try, they would never succeed." Alice chimes in. "You're my soulmate Bella, and I love you. You will never have to worry about me leaving you." I take her hand in mine and lace our fingers together as I beam at her words.

Alice focuses her attention on Carlisle now. "I still have one question regarding all of this. How come Bella cannot shut off these instincts? They are part of her wolf abilities and she should be able to shut them off just like she can shut off all of her other abilities." That's a damn good question.

"I think that's because she has imprinted on you and she cannot shut that off. From what I know of the imprinting process, the wolf can't control it in any way. Once he has imprinted, he can't erase it or make it go away, not even in his human form. The instincts are part of the imprint, so they can't be shut off as well. One can learn to control them however, although that will require a bit of practice." With this Carlisle concludes his explanation and I just sit there for a moment and let everything sink in.

Even if we can't be a hundred percent certain of Carlisle's theory, it does make sense and it explains my recent behaviour.

"Thank you Carlisle, for having this talk with us. I feel a lot better now that I know more about what's happening to me." I look at Alice and see her nodding her head in agreement. I'm about to ask Carlisle about our trip to Seattle in the morning, when a yawn escapes from me. I look at Alice sheepishly while she just giggles at me and Carlisle chuckles, clearly amused.

"I think it's bedtime for the human." Alice says in between giggles.

"Yes, I tend to agree with you." Carlisle says and he turns his attention back to me again. "We will leave for Seattle around eight in the morning, but for now I just wish you a good night."

I mumble a thanks to him and let Alice practically drag me out of his office. She steers me into her bedroom and closes the door behind her. She walks over to her huge walk-in closet and pulls out a familiar looking duffel bag. I cock my eyebrow at her when I recognise the duffel bag as mine.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of swinging by your house again this afternoon to get some of your things." She hands me my duffel bag and sits down on her bed.

"Did you get a vision of me staying over here?" I ask her confused.

"No, I didn't." She pauses and she looks kind of embarrassed. "I was just hoping that you would want to stay here tonight, because I liked holding you while you slept this afternoon." She says while looking me straight in the eye.

"The thought of leaving hadn't crossed my mind and since you already got me my stuff, I guess that means I will be spending the night here." I smile at Alice while she lets out an adorable squeal.

Suddenly a very human need makes itself known. "Alice? Will you excuse me for a minute, I kind of need a human moment." I take my duffel bag with me into the bathroom so I can change into my pyjamas and brush my teeth after I have used the toilet.

As I emerge out of the bathroom again, Alice is lying on the bed on her side and she's leaning on her elbow, her head propped up by her hand. I notice that she too is wearing pyjamas.

"I didn't know vampires owned pyjamas." I say surprised.

"Usually they don't." Alice giggles. "But I decided to be prepared in case you were to spend the night here."

I look at the light blue pyjamas she has on. It's a simple blouse and shorts combination that gives me a great view of her legs and ample chest. A tingling feeling spreads through me as I let my eyes linger on the exposed flesh above her breasts for a few moments. A soft cough finally makes me tear my eyes away from Alice's chest and I feel my cheeks redden as I realise that she caught me checking her out.

I decide not to say anything about it and I'm glad that she doesn't either. I climb into bed next to her and lay down on my back. Alice shifts closer to me so that the length of our bodies are touching. I look intently at her face, trying to keep myself from gazing at her chest again and I'm immensely relieved when she starts talking. This way I can concentrate on her voice and not think about her breasts that are just inches away from my own.

"How do you feel about me meeting your parents tomorrow?" Alice asks me seriously.

I think about that for a minute. "I don't know." I tell her honestly. "Tomorrow will be the first time that I bring anyone so important to me home, so I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm not worried about them not liking you however, how could they not like someone as great and beautiful as you."

Alice smiles at my words and nuzzles her nose in the crook of my neck. She drags it up from the bottom to the top and inhales deeply. She repeats this a few times and then she kisses me softly on my pulse point.

She raises her head back up again and looks me in the eyes. "I think it's time for you to get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

I nod in agreement while Alice rolls over quickly to turn of the lamp on her bedside table. When she rolls back, she positions her body in a way that one of her legs is thrown over mine and the lengths of our bodies are touching once again. I regard her in the silence and the darkness of the room for a minute.

"Can I give you a goodnight kiss?" She breaks the silence with her question.

I respond to her by tilting my head up towards her, leaving the final move to her. She eagerly but softly places her lips on mine and kisses me tenderly. I tangle my hands in her hair and she places her free hand on my waist as we intensify our kiss. Carefully I slip my tongue into her mouth and we continue to kiss until I'm in need of oxygen and break away from her. Alice rests her forehead against mine and we stare into each others eyes before one of my yawns interrupts our moment.

Alice rolls me over onto my side, but keeps her arm around my waist and her leg over mine. I snuggle back into her and let out a contented sigh. Alice places a gentle kiss on the base of my neck.

"Sleep well, my Bella."

I only manage to mumble a good night as I drift off into sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**I apologise for taking so long to update. I have been preoccupied with some other things so I didn't have the inspiration to write. As you can see however, inspiration came back to me again and voila, Chapter 13. I hope you like it and I'm curious how you'll react to the end of the chapter. Please share your thoughts with me in a review ;)**

* * *

Morning rolled around quickly after a dreamless but peaceful night of sleep. I woke in a most pleasant manner, curled up into Alice while she was peppering small kisses all over my face. A girl could really get used to waking up that way.

After we both got up, albeit reluctantly, we freshened up before heading down and into the kitchen. Esme had made me a wonderful breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and bacon. Carlisle joined us in the kitchen as I was about to finish my breakfast and he greeted us with one of his usual smiles. As I finished up, he and Esme said their goodbyes to each other. Deciding to give them some privacy, Alice and I went into the garage and drove Carlisle's Mercedes out of it. When Carlisle joined us, Alice got into the back seat of the car and cuddled up to my side. Most of the trip we spent in comfortable silence, all three of us lost in our thoughts. When we were about fifteen minutes away from the base, Alice broke that silence.

"Carlisle? What exactly is our schedule today?" Alice inquires.

Carlisle keeps his eyes focused on the road while he answers her question. "The initial plan was that we would get to the essential part of this visit first and then head over to the Swan's residence. However, Bella's mother insisted that we first head over to the Swan's residence, because she is dying to meet us. Especially you, Alice."

I groan at this. I had been hoping that the time we would be spending with my mom would be minimal. I love her and all, but she can embarrass me like no one else can. Alice just cuddles closer to me.

"Relax Bella, I'm certain that our visit will go alright." She squeezes my waist with her arms to emphasize her words.

Despite Alice's reassurance, I'm still a bit nervous. "Are you sure?"

She lifts her head up from my shoulder and looks me in the eyes. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. I have seen it. Now stop worrying about it." She gives me a quick kiss on my cheek before she leans her head on my shoulder once again. I nuzzle the top of her head and my nerves slowly begin to leave me. By the time we arrive at the base, I'm not anxious at all anymore.

Carlisle informs the guard at the gate about who we are and after the security check is complete, we are free to pass. I direct Carlisle to my parents house and he parks his car on our driveway. As we get out of the car, I hear the front door open and see mom stepping onto the porch. She has a huge smile plastered onto her face and she is practically bouncing on her heels from excitement. There are my nerves again.

As we walk towards the porch, Alice takes a hold of my hand and intertwines our fingers together. I hold on to her hand tightly and if she wasn't a vampire, I'm sure I would be crushing her hand right now. We step up onto the porch and my mom immediately envelops me into a tight hug. I hug her back with one arm, keeping the hand of my other arm tightly clasped with Alice's.

"Hi honey! I never expected to see you so soon again, but I sure am glad that this opportunity presented itself." She finally releases me out of her hug and I can get back some air to reply.

"It's good to be back again mom, eventhough my last visit was just a few days ago."

I fall silent and feel a bit awkward just standing on the porch, wondering why we haven't gone inside yet. Next to me, Alice clears her throat and tugs on my hand. Suddenly I remember my manners.

"Oh! Of course! Mom, I would like you to meet Alice, my…" I falter here for a second, wondering about how to introduce Alice. Do I call her my girlfriend? She is so much more to me, but it would be weird if I introduced her as my soulmate, as my everything. I will settle on girlfriend for now. "…girlfriend. And this is her father, Dr. Cullen." Alice directs a cute little wave at my mother.

"Please Bella," Carlisle smiles at me and then at my mother. "there is no need to be so formal." He extends his hand to my mother. "My name is Carlisle, we spoke on the phone yesterday."

Mom takes his offered hand and gives Carlisle a warm smile in return. "Carlisle, Alice, welcome to our home. Please, do come in." Mom turns on her heel and I follow her into the house, tugging Alice along behind me. I hear Carlisle close the front door as we sit down in the living room and a second later he joins us. Mom has taken a seat in her usual spot, on the smaller couch opposite to the window. Carlisle, Alice and I have all sat down on the bigger couch that face the TV. Instead of the awkward silence I was expecting, Alice who is sitting closest to my mom, tries to strike up a conversation.

"You have a lovely home, Mrs. Swan."

"Thank you Alice, but please, don't call me Mrs. Swan. That makes me feel so old. Renee will do just fine." She smiles at Alice. "So, you are the girl that finally managed to gain Bella's attention." She says teasingly while she casts a glance my way. I just roll my eyes a bit and sink back into the couch a bit more, trying to become invisible.

"Yes," Alice answers politely, "that would be me indeed." She squeezes my hand again.

"You must be a very special girl." Oh great, here she goes. "When Bella visited us last weekend, I could immediately sense that something, or rather someone, was on her mind. When she spoke about you, her voice was all loving and serene and there was this twinkle in her eyes." My cheeks are quickly turning red at my mom's words. "And I think she actually sighed every time she mentioned your name and…"

"Mom!" I cry out, my face tomato red from embarrassment. "I think we get the picture! Can you please stop embarrassing me now?"

My mom just laughs at my outburst and Alice giggles. I can even hear Carlisle let out an amused chuckle.

Alice turns to look at me after she has her giggling under control. "Don't be embarrassed Bella, I think it's sweet." She lifts our linked hands to her mouth and places a soft kiss on the back of my hand.

The tender touch of her lips on my hand sends a delicate and enjoyable shiver down my spine. I don't have long to savour it however, because the opening of the front door interrupts the moment.

A few seconds later, dad walks into the living room. He's dressed in his official uniform and he has his cap clasped in one of his hands. I stand up from the couch and we give each other our usual awkward one-armed hug. Then he focuses his attention on his guests.

He nods a greeting to Carlisle. "I apologise for being late, Dr. Cullen. There was some business that I had to take care of this morning." I notice that he doesn't use Carlisle's surname, so I'm guessing that dad wants to get straight to business after the introductions.

"That is quite alright Col. Swan. Your wife has been a most pleasant host to me and my daughter in your absence." Carlisle says sincerely.

Dad shifts his gaze onto Alice, who directs a warm smile at him. "You must be Alice. It's nice to meet you." He gives Alice his customary nod as well.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Swan."

My dad has never been a man of many words and I can see that the pleasantries are over now. The next words out of his mouth confirm this.

"My wife insisted that she got to meet you first, before we got down to business. Now that she has, I don't see a reason to delay it further."

My mom speaks up at this. "Charlie! They just got here, we have barely even had the chance to introduce ourselves properly. Can't your business wait for another hour or so?"

"I'm sorry honey, but I have my orders. And besides, this won't take all day. I'm positive that we will be back for dinner." He regards Carlisle and Alice for a second. "I understand that you follow a diet different from ours, but I would still like to invite you to join us. I would like to get to know you outside from work as well."

"Then we will join you for dinner." Carlisle responds politely.

"Alright then, follow me." Carlisle, Alice and I all get up to follow my dad, but he stops as he sees this. "I'm sorry Bells, but you aren't allowed to be present during our meeting."

Great, now Alice and I have to stay with mom. This is going to be a long, long day.

Then dad seems to remember something. "David wanted me to ask you to stop by the training area this morning. When I told him about your ability, he nearly fainted from excitement. He is eager to watch you in action. James will be there as well to assist and he also seemed eager to meet Alice."

Thank you David! Now I have a valid reason to get away from mom and I get to do some training with James as well. Awesome.

* * *

After we got clearance for Carlisle and Alice at the information desk in the office building, we rode the elevator down to the underground structure in silence. We walked along the long white corridors with dad and Carlisle in the lead. When we came to the corridor that leads to the conference room, Alice and I split up from my dad Carlisle and we're now heading towards the training area.

Alice has been taking in her surroundings and she has a look of wonder and amusement on her face. I chuckle at her expression. To outsiders this must look like something out of a movie. An army base with a secret underground structure, where research is done after the supernatural.

To me this is the most normal thing in the world by now. I no longer think about the absurdity of it all. I have come to accept it as my life, and one I quite enjoy as well.

We finally reach the training area and as we round the last corner, I see James standing in front of the locker room door. As we reach him he pulls me into a light and friendly hug and we exchange our hello's. As he lets go of me, he regards Alice but falters when he looks into her eyes. Confusion starts spreading over his face, but he quickly recovers.

"Hello, I'm James. I'm a friend and colleague of Bella." His extended hand is taken by Alice.

"Yes, I already know you in a way." James raises his eyebrows at this and Alice quickly explains herself. "I have seen you in a vision that is. I'm Alice by the way."

Recognition is clear on James' face now. "Ah, I should have known you would accompany Bella." He directs his next words at me. "I'm guessing that your mother insisted that she come along?" I just nod in the affirmative. "Well, I'm glad that she did. It has been a while since I have met a friendly vampire and besides that, I'm dying for a good fight." He grins at his last statement.

Alice answers his grin with one of her own. "Bring it on. It's been a while since I have done any serious fighting. However, I do need a change of clothes first."

James steps aside and gestures with his hand towards the locker room door. "I'll see you inside the training area ladies."

I let Alice enter the locker room first and then follow after her. I direct her to the cabinet where we keep some extra training uniforms so she can pick out the right size. In the meantime I put on my own gear. We head into the training area where James is waiting for us with David by his side. They break up their conversation as soon as David notices Alice and me.

"Bella, I'm delighted to see you so soon again. James here was just telling me about your companion." He turns his attention on Alice. "Hi, my name is David and I lead the research team of this operation." He looks into Alice's eyes and surprise is written all over his face.

"I thought James was playing a joke on me, but you're eyes really are gold." He says baffled. "I have never before seen a vampire with gold eyes. How interesting. Tell me, do you know other vampires with the same colour eyes as yours?"

"Yes I do actually," Alice answers, "I know two covens of vampires who have eyes the same colour as mine." She looks at me. "You never mentioned that we don't drink human blood?"

I shrug apologetically. "It just never came up I guess. I didn't think it would matter."

"Wait, wait." James interrupts. "You don't drink blood? That's not possible. We can't survive without blood."

"No, you misunderstand. I didn't say we don't drink blood, we just don't drink human blood." Alice clears up. "We only drink animal blood."

"Astounding!" This time it's David who reacts. "I didn't even know how that was possible. How did you come to the discovery that animal blood sustains you as well?"

"Carlisle, my father for all intents and purposes, is a man with great compassion. When he was turned into a vampire, he couldn't bear the thought of hurting innocent humans but he had to survive somehow. Crazy with thirst he attacked a herd of deer and fed on them. That's how he found out that he could live without taking the lives of others."

"How is animal blood different from human blood?" James inquires, clearly intrigued.

"It doesn't taste quite as good, that's for sure. But that differs per animal. Mountain lion tastes better than deer for example, and the hunt is more fun as well."

"You hunt your prey?" James asks in an excited voice.

"Of course we do." Alice answers confused. "Don't you?"

David answers Alice's question. "Of course he doesn't. We're the US Army, we don't kill people, we strive to protect them. We have a supply of blood here that is donated by the soldiers on this base. But now that we know that vampires can feed off animals too, I guess that supply isn't necessary anymore." As an afterthought he adds, "If you want to give the animal blood a try that is James."

James doesn't have to think about it for long. "I would like to try it. It has been a really long time since I have hunted for my food."

"The hunt is the best part." Alice says excitedly. "During the hunt we can let our instincts run free and we don't have to worry about being in control like we have to when we are around humans. It is actually a relaxing experience."

"OK then," I cut in, "that was an interesting conversation, but can we please get to the fun stuff now? I have something really cool to show you."

"Ah yes!" David's expression brightens immediately. "Your father told me about your interesting new ability this morning. Please, be free to demonstrate." He says enthusiastically.

He doesn't have to tell me twice. I take of my boots, not wanting to damage them because they are my favourite pair, and place them aside. I move away from Alice, James and David so that I have some space.

And then it's happening. My whole body starts to tremble and I can feel the change happening. This time it's less painful than the first, but it's still not a pleasant feeling. The transformation is over in less than a second and I hear two gaps. One from David and one from James. I look their way and see David staring at me with wide eyes and his mouth agape. James' expression is more controlled, but his eyes are widened quite a bit. I trot over to them and come to a stop next to Alice. I sit down next to her and nudge her shoulder with my nose. She giggles and runs her hand along the top of my massive head.

David finally recovers from his shock. "Bella! When your father told me you could shape-shift into a wolf, I thought he meant an ordinary one. I have never seen a wolf like this! This is amazing!"

James cautiously takes a step toward me, I can see that he isn't really comfortable with me and I try to reassure him. My words come out as barks and he jumps backwards and crouches down in a defensive position while he hisses at me. I look to Alice for help and she seems to understand me.

She addresses James. "It's alright James, she won't hurt you. I know that you're instincts are telling you that this your enemy, but she's not. It's Bella, she won't do you any harm. She's your friend."

James relaxes out of his crouch but he keeps the distance between us. He still seems wary of me. I don't like that he is. I let out a soft whine to let him know that.

"I'm sorry Bella, I'm trying to get my instincts under control, but it's hard. I think for now it's better if I keep a bit of distance between us. He turns his gaze onto Alice. "How can you control yourself so well around her?"

Alice looks me in the eyes and runs her hand through my fur again. "We share a special bond of sorts. The other wolves I can't stand to be around, but being around Bella isn't a problem for me. She doesn't even smell the same way to me than the others."

This is news to me. I didn't know that I smelled different from the other wolves.

"Do the others smell even worse then?" James asks and as I look at him, I see that he isn't breathing. Do I really smell that bad?

"Oh yes," Alice answers him without hesitation. "The others positively reek. You can smell them coming before you can even hear or see them coming. But Bella doesn't smell like wet dog to me at all. She smells like the forest on a rainy day." As to prove her point, she buries her nose in the fur on my neck and inhales deeply. When she lifts her head, I see the serene expression on her face and it makes my heart soar.

James makes a disgusted sound. I snap my head back to him. "I'm sorry Bella," he quickly says, "but to me you really do smell like wet dog. It's not appealing in the slightest." I just huff at him. Like he smells so great right now.

During our conversation, David has been scribbling like mad on his clipboard. When the scratching of his pen against the paper finally seizes, he looks up at us.

"You surely have given me a lot to think about already, but now I would like to see what you can do in your wolf form. Would you care to demonstrate?" I just nod my head.

David regards James for a second and then he looks at Alice. "Alice, would you like to help us test Bella's wolf abilities. I don't think it would be wise to ask James for his assistance in this right now."

Alice looks absolutely delighted. "Of course, I would love to help."

* * *

The training session this morning with Alice was fun. We tested my speed, my senses, my fighting skills and everything else David could think of. When we were done testing my abilities, James and Alice started sparring. In spite of Alice's built and inferior strength, she still had the upper hand because of her gift. Eventhough Alice has never had any kind of military training as far as I know, she had some really good moves. When I asked her about that after the fight, she told me that Jasper had been a soldier when he was still human and that he had led an army of vampires during the first years after he was turned.

When we were about to exit the training area, my dad and Carlisle entered. Their meeting was over but there was still and issue that they wanted to discuss with Alice, James and me present as well. Alice and James stayed with them while I took a quick shower and then we all headed back to the conference room, where we are seated now.

"… we don't know for sure why they are looking for you, but we figure that you are safest with us." Carlisle rounds of his explanation of Alice's vision.

James turns his gaze onto my dad. "Do you agree with this, Col.?"

"Yes I do. You are a valued member of our squad and a good friend. I would hate to see anything happen to you and we can't protect you here. The Cullens clearly can. I took the liberty of arranging a month of leave for you. Just look at it as a vacation." Dad explains.

"Alright, I guess I'm coming with you then." He says to Carlisle. "But are you sure about this? It sounds to me like you are endangering your family for me, while I'm a perfect stranger to you."

"You're a friend of Bella's, so you're a friend of ours as well."

I smile at Carlisle's words. They show me how much Carlisle and the whole Cullen family cares about me. They have accepted me without a moment's hesitation, well except for Edward, and now they are willing to protect a man that they don't even know. This family really is something.

* * *

Dad had invited James to dinner as well, so it was a bit crowded at our dinner table, but none of us had minded. While dad, mom and I ate, the vampires at the table were engrossed in each other tales of their respective pasts. We humans also paid close attention to the conversation and I learned a great deal more about Carlisle's past.

After dinner we went into the living room, where dad watched the game that was on and the rest of us had some pleasant conversations. At one point I had excused myself and stepped outside to get some fresh air. While I was looking at the sky, James joined me on the porch and we stood there in comfortable silence for a little while.

The silence ended with a question. "Bella, can I ask you something personal?"

I didn't turn to look at him and kept staring at the sky. "You know you can ask me just about anything."

James hesitated a moment before his next question. "What did Alice mean this morning, when she said that you two have a 'special bond of sorts'?

I thought back to the conversation that Alice and I recently had, about us being soul mates. A smile immediately appeared on my face and I closed my eyes, remembering the way I felt when Alice told me that she loves me.

I finally turned to look at James and answered his question. "Alice is my imprint, my soulmate. The first time I met her, I felt this pull toward her and I fell in love with her right from the start. When I saw her in my wolf form Sunday night, I imprinted on her." James looked at me questioningly. "It's a wolf thing. Just like vampires have their mates, the wolves have their imprints." I told him a bit about how Alice and I handled the discovery that we are soul mates and James listened patiently.

After I concluded my story, he was silent for a while, probably thinking about everything I just told him. Eventually he broke the silence again.

"I'm happy for you Bella." That was all he said and that was all he needed to say.

We both headed back into the house then. Shortly after, we were getting ready to leave and my mom pulled me into the kitchen.

"You really love that girl, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, with all my heart."

At that, mom just hugged me until breathing became an issue and she had to let go of me. We said our goodbyes at the front door and I promised to visit again soon.

Currently, we're in Carlisle's car and we have just turned onto the road that will lead us to the Cullen's house. Alice is curled into my side, just like she was this morning, while James is sitting in the passenger seat. He and Carlisle were immersed in a conversation all the way from Seattle. I feel the car come to a halt and I look out the car window towards the big white house that has become like a second home to me during the short time of me living in Forks.

We all get out of the car and get into the house. As we walk into the living room, I can see that everyone except for Jasper is gathered there. Introductions are made and Esme explains that Jasper is out hunting.

Carlisle is about to tell everyone what he discussed with my dad this morning, when we all hear a gasp. I turn towards where the sound came from and I see Jasper standing in the hallway.

The next I know, a wave of lust hits me.


	14. Chapter 14

**After the minor cliffhanger of chapter 13, some of you were confused and others were on the right track. I didn't want to leave you hanging too long, so I present to you: chapter 14. Everything will be explained to you.**

* * *

In the following few seconds I make two big mistakes.

The force of Jasper's power is so strong, that it literally knocks the breath out of me. I breathe in deeply to replenish the air in my lungs, which is my first mistake.

Alice is standing right next to me, so as my lungs fill up with air again, I also take in Alice's scent. Her scent combined with the wave of lust nearly sends me into a frenzy, but I manage to control myself just barely.

I turn to look at how the others are handling it and naturally my eyes land on Alice first. Which is my second mistake.

I let my eyes trail down her body and back up again. As I reach her eyes, the little bit of control I have disappears. Without thinking about it, I forcefully pull Alice towards me. When her body is flush against mine I quickly lean in to claim her lips with my own. There is nothing soft or loving about the kiss we share. It's passionate, it's raw, it's pure lust. I moan in ecstasy and bury one of my hands in Alice's short hair, while I rest the other on her ass. As she takes my bottom lip in between her teeth, I squeeze her ass and Alice moans quite loudly.

As we continue kissing and groping each other, I become aware of the voices around us.

"How long are they going to keep at it like that? Don't they care that we are in the same room?" Rosalie sounds a bit disgusted.

"I hope they keep doing this all night long! I don't mind watching this at all." Of course this comes from Emmett.

"I'm sure that once they figure out that they are no longer under the influence of Jasper's power, they'll stop soon enough." I seize all motion at Edward's words and my eyes open wide in shock as I realise that I can indeed no longer feel Jasper's power influencing me.

I manage to tear myself away from Alice who just looks at me confused and tries to pull me back to her to continue kissing me. It's difficult to resist her but I still manage to do so, but unfortunately Alice doesn't give up.

"Alice! What are you doing? Stop that!" My words don't have any effect on her and Edward chuckles.

"Alice, let the poor girl go before her cheeks catch on fire."

Alice stops trying to kiss me but refuses to let go of me. "Why did you stop?" She sounds disappointed.

"Because," I take a quick look around me and if possible, my cheeks become even hotter from embarrassment. "we are surrounded by your whole family!" I say this in a quiet whisper, which is useless because everyone in the room besides me is a vampire.

Alice shrugs her shoulders at my words. "So?"

I look at her incredulously. "So we can't do.. THAT. Not with everyone here. You can't tell me that you're not the least bit bothered by the fact that everyone could see us?"

"Actually, no. I'm not bothered by it. Not at all." She pauses. "But I can see that you are, so I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable." She says apologetically.

I sigh. "Well, its not like it was your fault. I was the one who practically jumped you, so…"

"Yes that is true. But you weren't exactly in control of yourself after that wave hit us all."

That's right! I got into this because of Jasper! I look around the room, preparing to scowl at him, but he's not there.

"Where did Jasper go?" I ask confused.

It's Esme who answers me. "He excused himself after he got his power under control again. He's in the backyard right now talking with James."

I scan the room again and notice that James is indeed absent as well. Huh, weird, why would he be outside talking with Jasper?

"You really have no idea whatsoever?" Edward asks me.

Damn it, I have my wall down again. I scowl at Edward.

He raises his hands. "Hey, you know I can't turn my gift off. You can at least keep that wall up if you don't want me to hear you think."

I stop scowling at him, because he's right of course. "You're right, sorry. But no, I have no idea. But I have a feeling that you do, so please enlighten me."

Edward is about to respond, but Rosalie beats him to it. "Oh come on Bella, do the math. Jasper sees James and vice versa. Both their feelings of lust are so strong that they overwhelm Jasper which causes him to lose control of his power. Which resulted in you and Alice almost dry-humping each other, but I guess that's besides the point here." She smirks at her own words and I glare at her before I think about what she just said.

It only takes me a second to grasp what Rosalie is getting at. My eyes widen in surprise at my realisation.

"Wow, I didn't see that one coming."

Alice giggles at my words. "I don't think that any of us knew this was going to happen Bella. Such things tend to be rather unpredictable. Just look at how the rest of us found our mates. Rosalie saved Emmett from being killed by a bear, Carlisle found Esme in the morgue, and I was tackled by a giant wolf."

Carlisle had found Esme in the morgue? To my knowledge one can only turn into a vampire when ones heart is still beating. I'm about to ask for more details when Jasper and James step back into the living room.

"I'm going to accompany James on his first hunting trip." Jasper tells the rest of the family.

Then he turns his gaze upon Alice and me. "I apologise for my lack of control just now Bella."

After having the situation explained to me, I can't really blame Jasper for his slip up. "That's alright. I understand what happened." My next words are for James. "Have fun hunting."

Both Jasper and James are gone in a flash.

* * *

"I'll meet you in my office Alice."

Carlisle just finished relaying to us what exactly he discussed with my dad today and afterwards we talked about how we are going to proceed. We all agreed that we will undergo no action until Alice sees something in her visions that requires it. Carlisle does want her to search the future repeatedly so she can warn us in advance. Doing that accurately takes a great deal of concentration, so Carlisle thinks it would be best to conduct her search in his office where no one will disturb her.

Alice and I are standing at the foot of the stairs, just enjoying each others company before she has to get to 'work'.

"What are you going to do tonight while I'm busy searching the future?" She asks me.

"I was thinking of taking a run in the woods in my wolf form. And I wanted to see if my house is still standing. I'm spending more time at your home than at mine."

"That's because you just can't stay away from me." Alice says teasingly.

"No, it's because Esme is an amazing cook. I only come here for the food really." I say casually. "The company is just an added bonus."

"So now I'm not only topped by a car, but by food as well." She sounds hurt, but I can tell that she's faking it by the gleam in her eyes.

"Don't worry, there's still room enough for you in here as well." I tell her as I point at my heart. She smiles at this. "Will I see you again tonight?" I ask hopeful.

"I honestly don't know. It depends on how long Carlisle wants me to keep searching. But you'll definitely see me in the morning. We have both tomorrow and Friday off because of our 'illness' so I'm planning some fun activities." She says this last part suggestively while she wiggles her eyebrows and my mind immediately ends up in the gutter. My cheeks grow hot from the thoughts I'm having and Alice's laughs softly.

"Have sweet dreams tonight Bella." She places a soft kiss on my lips and then skips up the stairs.

Once I have successfully pulled my mind out of the gutter I make my way to the backyard. I notice Edward sitting on a boulder by the stream that passes through the yard and I walk towards him at a normal pace, enjoying the night air.

"Can I join you?" I ask Edward as I reach the boulder he is reclining on.

"Of course." He doesn't look at me as he replies, which tells me that something is on his mind. Edward is a man who almost never forgets his manners, except when something is bothering him.

I climb onto the boulder and take a seat next to Edward, who remains staring ahead of him. I wait for him to start talking, but he doesn't and we sit side by side in silence for a while. It's me who eventually breaks the silence.

"I was going to wait until you told me what's going on, but seeing as one of us needs her sleep, I'm just going to go ahead and ask. What's bothering you?" I ask him quietly, trying not to disturb our peaceful surroundings.

"I was going over past and recent events in my mind." He replies.

"Anything in specific?"

"Yes. I was recalling how everyone in this family has found their mate." He pauses for a few seconds. "Did you know that when Carlisle turned Rosalie, he hoped that I would find my mate in her?" He chuckles humourlessly. "How well that worked out." He falls silent again.

I think I know what's bothering Edward. All of the people that he considers his family, have found their significant others. They have found what makes them whole and happy. Now he is left as the only one in this family who goes through his existence alone.

"I have never found jealousy a flattering emotion, but it is one that has kept me company for the largest part of these past two weeks." I don't interrupt him and just let him say what he needs to get off his chest. "I just can't help but to feel jealous when I look at Alice and see how happy she is now. I have grown used to the others being this way and hearing their thoughts, but it has been hard adjusting to the change in Alice. She has always been the most positive and happy one of us, it's just who she is, but there was always something missing in her. Until you came along and filled that one little part of her that was still empty. Which has made me envy her." He sounds upset with himself as he confesses this to me. But I can't be upset with him as well, I understand where he is coming from.

"I'm sure that you will find your mate as well Edward." I tell him. "One day, you'll meet her and you will experience something that you never have experienced before. You will see her face and know that she is what you have been looking for all along. I promise you that you will find her Edward, whoever she is. There is someone out there for all of us, it's just a matter of time before you find her."

"And time I just happen to have, all the time in the world." His voice sounds lighter to me.

He stands upright and extends his hand to me. I take it and he helps me up. "Thank you, Bella, for listening to me." He manages to direct a small smile at me.

I squeeze his hand before I let go of it. I let my mental wall down for a moment, to show Edward I'm being sincere. _I will always be here if you need someone to talk to, or if you want some company._

He chuckles at this. "You'd better clear that with Alice first, I don't want her to get angry with me for stealing her time with you."

Having said that, he flashes back into the house and after a minute or so I hear a beautiful melody coming from the piano.

I jump down from the boulder and after checking to see of no one is around, I strip down to my underwear. The change into my wolf form is complete in a split second and I take off into the forest. I have no particular direction in mind for now and I wander aimlessly, until a familiar smelling scent catches my attention. I follow it deeper into the forest and the smell keeps intensifying. After a few minutes I reach a river and the scent is most powerful on the other side of the river. I'm preparing to jump to the other side when I hear movement behind me.

Jasper and James come to a stop next to me.

"I don't know if it would be wise to cross. This is the border we share with the Quileutes. They are not supposed to come onto our land and we're not suppose to go onto theirs." Jasper tells me. Of course I already know about this, but I had failed to remember it.

I nod my head at Jasper to show that I understand. Then I hear the sound of paws thundering against the earth of the forest on the other side of the river. I turn back to look at Jasper.

"I think it's best if we leave now, the wolves tend to get a bit anxious when we're too close to the border."

I nod at him again and take off into the direction where I initially came from. I can't hear or smell Jasper or James near me, so I'm assuming they went another way. I wander through the forest for a little while more and eventually head home. I shift back into my human self again in my own backyard and get my spare key out from under the flowerpot.

I head up to bathroom and take a long and relaxing shower. On the way back down to the kitchen, I stop at the door of the room that still has no purpose. I open the door and glance inside the room for a minute. Then I close the door again and make my way downstairs.

I open one of my kitchen drawers and dig around in it until I find what I'm looking for. I pick up the phone and start dialling the number on the business card that I'm holding. After a few seconds, someone answers.

"Esme Cullen speaking."

"Hi Esme, it's Bella."

"Oh hello dear, what can I help you with?" Esme asks surprised.

"Before I can tell you anything, I need to know if Alice is still busy searching the future." If not, my whole plan will be ruined.

"Yes, Alice is still busy with that for the time being."

"Good," I say in a satisfied tone, "that means she is too distracted to see this coming."

* * *

My phone call with Esme had lasted for about half an hour. We talked about what I want to do with the extra room I have in the house. Esme was thrilled to hear about my plan and was eager to help me out. We are going to start working on the room this Friday, but we have to make sure that we keep this a secret from Alice. The room is going to be a surprise for her. Fortunately for Esme and me, Carlisle wants Alice to have a future searching session every night. That gives us the time to complete our little project without Alice even knowing what's going on.

I'm lying in my bed and I am about to drift off into sleep, when I hear my window open. I don't need to look to know who it is, because the soft autumn breeze carries Alice's scent over to me. She steps into my room and softly closes the window before she walks over to my bed. I scoot to the side a bit to make more room for her and hold the sheets up invitingly. Alice kicks of her shoes before she joins me beneath the sheets.

She immediately drapes one of her arms over my waist and uses the other one to prop her head up. I prop mine up as well so I can be eye to eye with her.

"Hi." Alice tells me softly and she leans in to give me a light peck on my cheek. I shift my head so that she kisses me on my mouth instead. Alice giggles at my action.

"I didn't know if you would mind me coming over this late, but I can see that you don't."

"Of course I don't mind. You can always come over, it doesn't matter what time it is. I like being near you."

"That's good," Alice plants another light kiss on my mouth, "because I can't stand being away from you for too long. Besides that, I really needed to get out of the house tonight. Edward fled the house as well."

I lift one of my eyebrows up. "Why, what's going on at your house?"

"Well, unlike you," I can see Alice smirk at me in the dark, "Rosalie and Emmett decided to wait before they got it on after Jasper's minor loss of control this evening."

I try to control my blush but I fail miserably. I try to focus on what Alice just told me. "Well, I can see why you and Edward felt the need to flee from the house then." I know that Rosalie and Emmett both aren't shy, so I'm guessing that they don't care whether the whole family hears what they are up to.

"Wait… What about Jasper? Doesn't he feel their emotions as well when they are, you know, having sex?" I blush at the word. "If I where him I would have been the first one to leave the house."

Alice giggles at my awkwardness. "I don't think Jasper is bothered by that right now. When he and James returned from hunting they both went upstairs and I'm pretty sure they're not having a conversation right now."

My eyes widen in surprise and in shock at Alice's words and I can feel my cheeks heat up even more than before and I bury my face in my pillow, trying to clear my head of the mildly disturbing images that are currently floating around in it. Alice full on laughs at me this time.

After my mind is a safe place again I look up to find Alice regarding me, an amused smile still on her features.

"I can't understand how Carlisle and Esme deal with this. I mean, eventhough they are not biological parents, they still see you as their children." If it were my parents, they would go mad I reckon.

"Bella, what do you think Carlisle and Esme are doing right now?" Her smile intensifies at my expression, which I imagine is pure horror. "Oh come on Bella, we're all adults and we all have needs. Carlisle and Esme are the same as any one of us and they act the same way as every one of us. Only with a bit more discretion I might add."

This is like being told that your parents are still having sex. I know that it's one of the most natural things in the world, but it still seems so wrong to me. They are my parents and as far as I know they only had sex once. That was when they conceived me.

"Is it possible that we talk about something else? Because I feel like I'm going to vomit if we keep talking about this." I might be overreacting a bit here, but this is seriously making me feel nauseous.

"I think I know of a good way to distract you." Alice says suggestively.

Before I even have the time to react, she has me pinned down on the bed with my arms secured above my head. I look her in the eyes and notice that they are darkening rapidly.

"I believe we still have to finish something that you started this evening."

And then she dips her head down and plants her lips firmly on my own. It takes me only a split second to recover from my initial surprise, before I'm responding to Alice's actions in kind. We share a heated and passionate kiss and I can hear myself moan into Alice's mouth as our tongues make contact for the first time. A battle for dominance ensues that Alice eventually wins.

She lets go of my wrists with one of hands and cups my cheek, before she trails her hand down the side of my throat and places it on my collar bone. I try to free one of my own hands from her iron grip, but to no avail. Alice is in complete control of me and I can't say that I don't like it.

She breaks of our kiss, only to move onto my throat. She finds my pulse point quickly and begins alternating between kissing it and sucking on it. I just lie there helpless, breathing erratically and lost in the sensations that Alice is creating.

I try to free my hands again so I can touch Alice, but the grip she has on my wrists doesn't relent. I don't give up however and I feel something stir inside of me. I use my full strength to free my hands and I manage to succeed. I burry one in her hair, running it through her soft locks. The other finds it's way to the small of her back, where I start rubbing circles with it. Alice positions her now free on my hip, while I can feel the one on my collarbone slowly creeping downwards, towards the swell of my breasts. When it reaches it's destination, something inside me snaps and I let out a growl.

I quickly flip us over so that Alice is the one who is lying on her back. I connect my mouth with hers and my hands start touching every part of her they can reach. I put one inside her shirt and caress the smooth plane of her stomach, before I start inching it upward. When I reach her breast, I cup one in my hand and Alice gasps at the action. She arches upward and her head falls back slightly, presenting her throat to me. I latch onto it immediately and repeat Alice's earlier actions on herself. She moans in appreciation and I begin lightly squeezing her breast.

I reach around and put my fingers on the clasp of her bra, but I seize my actions at Alice's words.

"Bella, I think we should stop." She manages to force out in a slightly steady voice.

I lift my head from her throat to see if she's serious, and by the look in her eyes I can see that she is. I slowly ease my hand out from under her shirt and place it on her hip.

"Did I do something wrong?" I question Alice, immediately worried.

"No, absolutely not." Alice smiles at me lovingly. "In fact, you were doing everything right."

My worry dissipates and now I'm just confused. "Why did you tell me to stop then?"

"Because I think we have tested your self control enough for one night. I don't want us to do something we will both regret afterwards." Alice gently caresses my cheek.

She's right. I was in control for the most part just now, but I'm pretty sure that I can't handle it going much further than this yet.

"You're right. Doesn't mean I like it though. I was rather enjoying myself." Even thinking about what we just did makes me want more now.

"I don't think I have to tell you that I was enjoying it as well." Alice giggles. "I thought my moans were evidence enough."

"Yeah, you were being quite load. Thank God this is a detached house, otherwise I'm sure you would have woken up the neighbours." I say teasingly.

Alice swats me on my arm in response. "Hey! I wasn't that loud. And as I remember it, you were making appreciative sounds as well." She huffs.

I blush as I recall my own moans and my growl. "I guess I was yeah."

I roll off of Alice and lie on my side. She mimics my action so that she is facing me. She caresses my cheek again. I lean into her touch and close my eyes, enjoying her touch.

"So, what have you got planned for us tomorrow?" I ask her quietly while I keep my eyes closed.

"That, my dear Bella, is a surprise." She says mischievously.

"You know that I can just turn on Edward's gift and see for myself don't you?" I tell her.

"Yes, but you wouldn't do that." She sounds sure about that.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I want to surprise you and you will let me do just that because you love me."

I open my eyes to mock glare "Hey! That's not fair, pulling out the love-card." I tell her accusingly.

"I never said that I would play fair Bella." She chuckles. "That said, I think you should get some sleep. You're going to need your energy tomorrow."

"Fine." I grumble and turn my back to her. She puts one of her arms around my waist and the one under my neck, curling herself around my neck.

"Sleep well, Bella."

I mumble an incoherent reply to her as I drift off to sleep.

* * *

**So what do you think about Jasper finding his mate in James? Personally, I always thought he was a bit gay after seeing him portrayed by Jackson Rathbone in the films. Especially in the third film, with the curly hair and such. And having him mate with James gives the Cullens more reason to stand against the Volturi. **


End file.
